I Will Give You Pizza
by SoNotObsessed
Summary: Bella McCarty and Edward Cullen are the 2 smartest juniors in their class. Its nearing the end of the year and its almost time for school elections. With these enemies running against eachother this race is sure to be ugly. ALL HUMAN. FULL SUMMARY IN GMMB
1. Enemies Rejoice!

**A/N**

**Okay, so this is the first chapter for my new fanfiction, I Will Give You Pizza. Again, this is going to be my number one priority for a while, so I'm going to put my other announced projects on the backburner for now. Also, this is a disclaimer for all of this story: I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS! I own this story, and this story only!**

**Anyway, here's chapter one!! Enjoy!!**

**-S.N.O.**

CHAPTER ONE: ENEMIES REJOICE

"Em-_mett_!" I yelled. "Come _on_!" I reached over to the driver's side of his gigantic Jeep Wrangler **(pic on profile)** and honked the horn three times. Gosh, I hate when my brother takes forever in the mornings! Ugh, I just don't understand why my parents won't let me drive my own car to school. I mean, isn't that why I have it in the first place?

_HONK! _Man, I was really getting impatient. _HONK, HOOOOONK!_ Just then, Emmett came out into the garage, his giant hands over his ears. He opened the driver's side door, threw his school bag in the back seat, and climbed in.

"Jesus, you're annoying!" he said to me, shaking his head.

"Yeah, and you're running late. Again!" I replied harshly. "God, Emmett, you know school's important to me. Is it ever possible for you to be on time in the mornings?" I turned my head sharply in his direction as I caught him making faces and mimicking me in my peripheral vision. He copied my exact movement and angry facial expression. I narrowed my eyes and turned my head away, resting it on the window. Ten seconds later, when the car still wasn't moving, I looked back at him. He was staring at me with raised eyebrows.

"What? Are you waiting for an invitation? Drive already!" He just kept the same incredulous look on his face.

"We're not leaving until you get in the back seat," he told me flatly. I pushed my brows together in confusion and he sighed, obviously annoyed and frustrated.

"We're picking up Rose today," he said, turning back to the steering wheel. I let out a strong huff and rolled my eyes as I unbuckled and crawled into the back seat of the Jeep. Emmett hates when I do that. Don't get me wrong, I love my big bear of an older brother, but when he makes me mad, I tend to purposely make him mad. He glared at me through the rearview mirror and I smirked in return.

Mumbling some profanities under his breath, he started the car and pulled out onto our quarter-mile-long driveway. This morning we had to go pick up Emmett's girlfriend since freshman year, Rosalie Hale. She was pretty much the prettiest girl on earth: tall, thin, gorgeous long blonde hair, deep blue eyes. She was also one of the nicest people I knew. She wasn't at all conceited like you'd think a beautiful girl would be, and she was incredibly smart. I think this year she was actually close to being valedictorian. I had no idea why we had to take her to school today though, since she had her own flashy red convertible of her own, but I didn't bother to ask. Then a thought came to me.

"Hey, Em, since we're picking up Rose, does that mean we're getting Jasper, too?" I asked, hopeful. Rosalie's younger brother Jasper is one of my best friends. If you didn't really know him, he could seem kind of shy. But I've known Jas since I was seven years old, and boy could that kid talk when he wanted to.

Emmett glanced back at me and nodded stiffly, obviously still annoyed at me climbing around in his precious baby. I smiled to myself. Jasper really was a great guy, and that would make this whole ride to school a lot more bearable. I mean Rosalie is a great girl and all, but it can get a little uncomfortable in a car with your older brother and his long-time girlfriend, even if you have known each other for a little over ten years.

We drove in silence on the way to the Hales' house, which was only about five minutes away from our three-story mansion. Both of our families were pretty wealthy; they just liked to show it off a bit more than we tended to, not that there's anything wrong with that. When we pulled up to their cottage-styled, three-story plus basement mansion, Emmett put the Jeep in park and honked the horn twice. I rolled my eyes at him and mumbled, "Jerk," under my breath. Really, was it so hard to get out of the car and go knock on the door?

Just then, Rosalie came out of her house and skipped over to the front seat. She looked even prettier today than she usually did, especially on a Monday morning. She had on cream colored Uggs over her dark-wash skinny jeans, and was wearing a bright green, long-sleeved tunic. The ensemble looked unbelievably comfortable. Rosalie had her long blonde hair in cascading waves, and was wearing hardly any make-up, yet still looked like a model. Gosh, I was jealous of her.

She opened the door and gave Emmett a quick peck on the lips, then turned around to greet me.

"Hey, Bella," she said cheerfully with that prize-winning smile of hers. I smiled back.

"Hey, Rosalie. Um, where's Jasper?" I asked cautiously. She rolled her eyes and turned back around in her seat.

"He's sick. No school for the kid today. Lucky bastard," she said. I laughed at her last statement, though I was slightly upset that I'd still have to ride basically alone on the way to school. I pulled out my new iPod and blasted the music to drain out the odd conversation going on between my brother and his girlfriend.

We arrived at the school in about ten minutes, with two minutes to spare. When Emmett wanted to, he could make a drive half of what it would be while going the actual speed limit; for that, I was grateful… and slightly afraid. We pulled into the student parking lot and I spotted the infamous silver Volvo that belonged to my best friend Alice's twin brother, Edward. Oh, boy was that kid annoying. Alice was leaning against the passenger door holding two Starbucks cups in her tiny little hands. She looked the teeniest bit impatient, and I could guess why. She hated when I was close to being late for school, as did I.

I stuffed my iPod back into my tote bag and rushed out of the Jeep and over to Alice and the Volvo. She was tapping her foot impatiently and scanning the lot, for me I guess.

"Bella!" she yelled, sounding annoyed and relieved at the same time. She flitted over to me and I felt a smile starting to spread across my face. It was hard not to smile at the sight of Alice; she's just so darn adorable!

"Hey, Al," I greeted her as she handed me my coffee.

"I got you your favorite: an iced mocha latte with a shot of espresso," she announced proudly.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it. And I need it this morning," I added, rubbing my temple with my free hand. She looked at me, furrowing her brow in confusion.

"Emmett," I responded. She understood what that meant. I looked at my watch and saw that we had one minute before the bell rang. Alice caught the motion, linked her arm through mine, and pulled me along into the building that held our first class.

The first bell rang just as we entered the English room and we took our seats.

"So, I saw Rosalie getting out of the car with you guys," Alice said, looking down at her locked hands. I could tell what she was wondering.

"He's not here today; he's sick," I told her. Her eyes grew wide and she dropped her mouth.

"What?! What do you mean he's sick?! Is he okay? Is he in the hospital? Oh my God, he's in the hospital! Why is he in the hospital, Bella? WHY?!" I giggled as she looked like she was starting to fake hyperventilate. She snapped her head back to me.

"What are you laughing at? Do you think this is funny? My boyfriend is in the hospital and you won't even tell me why!" she screamed at me. People were filing into the classroom and looking at Alice like she was crazy, then glancing at me like _I_ was crazy for being friends with her. I rolled my eyes at everyone then turned my attention back to Alice, who was still staring at me with a shocked expression.

"Alice, calm down. He's just got a cold. No biggie." I shrugged.

"No… _biggie_? It's biggie enough for him not to be able to come to school!"

"Alice… breathe. Jasper is absolutely fine." She opened her mouth to say something else, but I cut her off. "He just has a little cold, and he didn't want to come to school and risk spreading it. Rosalie said he'll probably be back tomorrow. Okay? It's nothing to worry about," I assured her calmly.

"Okay, okay," she said, nodding her head furiously and turning back around in her seat. Alice and Jasper have been dating since eighth grade, just about as long as Emmett and Rose have been. We all became friends, including Alice's ruthless brother, when we were about five. I was always able to tell that they liked each other, even when Jasper would deny it. They finally became an official couple at my fourteenth birthday party. I admit, I was a little upset that it took some of the attention off of me and my birthday, but I was so relieved and happy for them that it finally happened.

The tardy bell rang just as our teacher, Ms. Rampley, came into the class. **(I have an English teacher named Ms.Lampley. I decided to base this character off of her.)**She was a young woman, maybe mid-to-late-twenties, with short, red hair. She was as tall as I was, which wasn't very tall at all, and she was one of the most annoying and rude people I had ever known. She was also one of the worst teachers I had ever had. She turned on the television for the morning announcements and then stood beside it. The first thing to come on the screen was a picture of the American flag, and then a student announced, "Please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance." After we took our seats again, Rosalie came onto the screen.

"Good morning, Forks High School! This is your school president, Rosalie Hale," she announced cheerily. I thought Alice was the only one who could be so perky on a Monday morning. "Today is the last Monday before Spring Break," she paused, allowing everyone to whoop and holler in joy, then continued, "and as you all know, that means it's one day closer to the end of the school year." More whoops and hollers. "Unfortunately, that means that as of June 6th, I will no longer be your president." She looked truly upset by the fact, as I'm sure many others were. Everyone really loved having Rose as president, which is why she was elected in the first place. It really would be sad to not have her here next year, though I'd probably be seeing a butt-load of her all the time. After all, she _was_ my brother's girlfriend and the college they'd be attending was only about forty-five minutes away.

"And _that_ means that we will be having presidential elections, and not just for senior class, but for next year's sophomores and juniors, as well!" More cheering. "I know, you're all excited," she said, laughing. "So with that being said, elections will be taking place two weeks after Spring break: more specifically, three weeks from today. All interested students can pick up an application from their respective guidance offices. Necessary information includes the student's name, current year, position they're running for, and _why_ they should run. Applications should be sent back to Mrs. Brook in room 403 by _this Thursday! _Then on Friday morning, all candidates will be announced and posted on the main office bulletin board. Good luck to all students participating, and here is Caroline Santos with today's lunch menu." Nobody paid attention to the rest of the announcements; everyone just chatted about the upcoming school elections. Strange, isn't it, that people at this school actually care about things like this? Of course I did, but it was unfathomable that everyone else cared. I turned to Alice.

"Oh, Alice…" I started, a small smile playing on my lips. She turned to me slowly, eyebrows raised in anticipation. I wriggled mine and smiled wider.

"Oh, no, Bella. Don't even think _about_ it!" she commanded me, pointing her finger in my face. My smile fell.

"Oh, come on, Alice. Ple-e-ease?" I asked, jutting out my lower lip and giving her my infamous puppy-dog eyes.

"No!" Damn. It usually works. "Bella, no way am I going to run for you."

"Aw, how come?" I asked her disappointed. I had been asking Alice to run for president in my place since freshman year. I would've run myself, if I weren't so nervous speaking publicly. Oh well. I guess I _had_ to run myself now.

"Because! Being school and class president has never been one of the things on my To-Do list. That, my dear, is yours and Edward's thing—not mine." She crossed her arms and turned back in her seat to face front.

"Fine," I murmered.

Drat. I forgot Edward would probably want to run as well. Everyone would probably vote for him. You see, Edward Cullen and I… well, we don't exactly get along, to say the least. He and I used to be pretty close, back in the elementary and middle school days, especially with him being Alice's brother and Jasper's best friend. The four of us were inseparable, and still are. There's just tension between Edward and I. There has been since that stupid eighth grade science fair.

_Flashback_

"_So you promise that no matter what happens we'll still be friends?" I asked Edward, holding out my hand for him to shake. He took it and shook it firmly, showing off that crooked grin of his._

"_I promise," he replied. "May the best man, or woman, win," he said confidently, making me nod my head in agreement._

_-Two weeks later, two nights before the science fair-_

"_So, Bella, what are you making?" Edward asked me._

"_I _made_ a proton laser," I corrected him. "I'm just making some last minute adjustments. What about you? What's your project on?"_

"_Hmph. I'm making a proton laser too," he mumbled, narrowing his eyes in anger. I laughed at him._

"_Don't worry, Edward. I'm sure they're completely different. And you promised: no matter what happens at the science fair, we'll still be best friends," I reminded him. He smiled and looked back up at me._

"Best_ friends."_

_-The day of the science fair-_

"_AHHHHHHHH!" I screamed in shock. Everyone came running into the auditorium where the science projects were set up._

"_Bella? What hap—Oh, my…" my mother said as she walked in to witness what happened._

"_Bella, what's wrong?!" Alice asked as she ran onto the stage, Edward and Jasper following behind her. "Oh my god!" she exclaimed, clamping her hand over her mouth._

_My beautiful, working, perfect proton laser was smashed into a million pieces on the wood of the stage, its name and mine lying atop of the pile. I felt tears starting to rise in my eyes._

"_Who would do such a thing?" Jasper whispered. I turned my head to where he, Alice and Edward were standing. _Edward_._

"You_," I whispered, narrowing my tear-filled eyes at him. He snapped his head up from looking at my destroyed project._

"_What?" he asked, his eyebrows rising._

"_You! You did this!" I yelled at him, making an echo in the large middle-school auditorium. His mouth, as well as everyone else's dropped open._

"_Me? Bella, you've got to be kidding," he replied, looking hurt. Wow, he was a really good actor, that Edward Cullen._

"_Absolutely not. The other night, when I told you what I was making, you got all mad and upset and annoyed because you were making the exact same thing!" I heard gasps come from all the adults that were crowding around us and my smashed laser._

"_That's ridiculous!" he yelled back at me._

"_No it's not! You were too annoyed—" He cut me off._

_"Well, yeah I was annoyed, but Bella… I would never do something like this! Especially not to you, you know that!" He was really playing this whole innocent thing pretty well._

_"Apparently, I don't know that," I said quietly, narrowing my eyes again._

_"Bella, come on. Whatever happens, we're still best friends, right?" He held out his hand for me to take. I gasped._

_"So you did do it!" He jumped back, surprised by my outburst._

_"Of course not, were you not just listening to—"_

_"Stop! Duh, I was listening to you! And I was listening to you when you basically just admitted that you destroyed my project!" Another echo. Just then, the principal and judge for the fair walked in._

_"What on Earth is going on in here?!" the principal asked. Then he saw my project. "Miss McCarty, what happened to your project?" he asked softly. I pointed my finger at Edward before responding._

_"He destroyed it."_

_"Bella, no I didn't!" Edward said to me, but I kept my gaze on our principal, who had turned his attention to my ex-best friend._

_"Mr. Cullen… I am stunned by your behavior."_

_"But Mr. Var—"_

_"Don't 'But Mr. Varman' me, Mr. Cullen. This is a disgrace to the entire scientific practice. I'm afraid we're going to have to disqualify you from the fair."_

_"What?! But I didn't do it! I'm telling you the truth!" There was a long pause in the room. "But I bet I know who did do it…"_

_"Excuse me?" Mr. Varman asked, confused._

_"I bet it was Lauren. Or Jessica. Or Tanya. Or all three of them!"_

_"Pish-tosh, Mr. Cullen. Miss Mallory, Miss Stanley, and Miss Denali are three of my best students. They would never."_

_"So you're saying that I'm not a good student, and I would?" Edward asked, obviously hurt by Mr. Varman's response._

_"Well, I don't know _what_ to think anymore, Mr. Cullen. But I do know that you are no longer a participant in this science fair. Better luck next year, in high school." And with that, everyone started to disperse._

_"Are you happy, Bella? You just falsely accused me of something I didn't do, and now I'm out of the fair." He threw up his hands in shock and defeat and stormed out of the auditorium. In a way, I was happy- happy that he got what he deserved for ruining my science fair project._

_End Flashback_

And from that day on, Edward Cullen and I have been the best of the worst of enemies. I snapped out of my remembrance to the sound of Ms. Rampley calling my name. I unclenched my hands from their death-grip on the sides of my desk, and looked up apologetically at my teacher.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Miss McCarty, I would strongly appreciate it if you refrain from day-dreaming in my class. There's plenty of time for that either at lunch or in the privacy of your own home," she told me, giving me a look of warning.

"Yes, ma'am," I muttered.

- - -

Alice caught my arm before I headed off to my next class. "Bella," she started, "what was going on with you in there?"

"Um, I was just thinking," I told her as I packed up my things.

"About…?"

"Um, just about how I'm going to have to run for president against your brother," I said, letting out a loud huff. She rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Gosh, why do you guys hate each other so much? I mean, it's kind of sad. We all used to be so close and—" I interrupted her.

"You know exactly why I dislike him so. I have no idea why he despises me, but you know every reason why I no longer talk to him." I grabbed my bad and made me way out the door, Alice right on my heels.

"He's mad at you for falsely accusing him and disqualifying him from the science fair," she mumbled. "God, will you guys ever let it go? It's so… so… pathetic!" she scoffed. I looked at her with a raised brow. She sighed again.

"Guess not…" And with that, the conversation was dropped. Alice and I had different classes to get to, but they were right next door to each other. I had honors Calculus and she had advanced Chemistry. Unfortunately, her loathsome fiend of a brother was in my class.

"Uch, speak of the devil…" I mumbled. Alice rolled her eyes.

"Just ignore each other," she said.

"Huh. Right," I laughed in a mocking tone.

"Behave," she told me, before entering her classroom. I rolled my eyes and walked into my own room. Of course, he was already there in his seat. I decided to ignore him, just like Alice had suggested, and took my seat in the second row of seats, at the desk closest to the window. I unpacked my things and set my homework from last Friday on my desk. When I looked up, I found none other that Edward standing in front of me, looking smug with his hands in his pockets.

"Oh, joy," I muttered, loud enough for him to hear me- hopefully.

"So, you hear the announcements this morning McCarty?" he asked in that familiar voice. I glanced back up at his piercing green eyes.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I asked before looking past him towards the whiteboard.

"I just wanted to know if you were planning on actually running," he chuckled.

"What's it to you?" I demanded, meeting his fiery gaze with one of my own. He shrugged.

"Just wanted to let you know, it's probably not such a good idea," he said, glancing away for a quick moment.

"And why is that?" I asked, pursing my lips.

"Because you'd be running against me." I laughed.

"And is that supposed to make me scared?"

"Very."

"Well, if I pretend to be scared, will you go away?" He pretended to deliberate.

"Hm… Maybe." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, pretending to 'get into character'.

"Okay." I opened my eyes widely and looked back up at him. "Okay, Edward. You are so right. I am terrified of running for class president, only because I'm so afraid of kicking your ass so bad that you'll go run crying to mommy," I said in a fake high-pitched voice. His smug smile fell and then leaned down to my level.

"I'll be sure to tell Esme you said that," he whispered.

"Give her my love," I said with a smile. I really did love Edward and Alice's mother, Esme. She was one of the sweetest people ever, not to mention she was an amazing cook. As he got up, I smirked at him and waved my hand goodbye daintily. He rolled his eyes and turned away, muttering something unintelligible under his breath. I laughed contently as the teacher came into the class and began the day's lesson.

Every time Mr. Richt would call on me for a question and I would answer, Edward would do something immature, like cough the word 'Wrong' or sneeze 'Incorrect'. The whole class thought it was hilarious, but what was even funnier was when I would actually get the answer right—which was always—and everyone would laugh at Edward. Soon enough, class was over and I was headed to my Photography class. Thank God Edward was mentally unstable when it came to using a camera.

Photo was my favorite class because it required pretty much no use of the brain whatsoever. And I also loved how this week we were taking pictures for the yearbook, so we pretty much got to wander around the entire school, clicking away at anyone and anything for the entire class period. I walked around with one of my good friends, Angela Webber and her boyfriend Ben Cheney. We took pictures of the lunch staff, guidance counselors, and the office secretaries. Tomorrow we would be going into our assigned classrooms. All too soon, the bell rang and class was over. Luckily, that meant it was time for lunch.

I walked with Angela and Ben into the lunch line, where I saw Alice was waiting anxiously. I told Ang and Ben that I'd meet them at the table, and I went to stand with Alice. I leaned down to her level and whispered in her ear, "Boo." She was hardly scared though. She just turned around slowly and gave me a very angry stare. I stepped back nervously.

"Um… what?" I asked her, taking hold of the railing. Her eyes narrowed.

"'Run crying to your mommy', Bella? Really?" she whisper-yelled. It took me about two seconds to understand what she meant. I laughed and took a tray from where they were piled.

"So what, he goes tattling on me now?" I asked between giggles.

"No, it was me who asked him how everything went in calculus. But seriously, Bella, do you have to be so immature?" My laughing cut off immediately and I turned my head sharply to look down at my best friend.

"I guess he didn't tell you the entire story then, huh?" She looked utterly confused, as I expected. "He told me I shouldn't run- that I should be scared to run against him for president. I asked him if I pretended to be scared, would he go away? He said yes, and I told him that I was scared I would beat him too badly and he would go crying to mommy. It was nothing huge, not at all. It was just funny. I'm not surprised he only told you what would get me in trouble, though." I shrugged and took an apple from the buffet.

"And then what about how you humiliated him?" she asked me.

"Humiliated him? What are you talking about?"

"How you would show him up purposely with correct answers." I laughed out loud again.

"Wow, Al. Seriously, it was all him. He kept coughing or sneezing that my answers were incorrect, and when the teacher announced that they were right, he got embarrassed. None of what's happened so far today has been my doing—none of it." She seemed to understand now, and turned all her anger and frustration to Edward. It was quite comical to see her scolding him when we got to our regular lunch table with Angela, Ben, and a few of our other friends.

Lunch went by quickly, and then I was off to my own Chemistry class. Edward was in it as well, but we completely ignored each other, unlike earlier today. The rest of the day passed, and I went home to work on my essay for candidacy.

**A/N**

**Soooo? How was it? I admit: It was mostly just setting the tone and everything, giving you some background info before the real story starts. Please REVIEW and I'll update as soon as I can!**

**-S.N.O.**

**!!And this story is actually Rated T for language!!**


	2. Take the Deviled Eggs

**A/N**

**Okay, so thanks to the people who have reviewed for my story so far. Also, BIG thanks to everyone who has subscribed or added IWGYP to their favorite stories list, or me to favorite authors. I really appreciate it, but seriously folks: I NEED MORE REVIEWS!!**

**Anyway, here's chapter 2. Enjoy!**

**-S.N.O.**

CHAPTER TWO: TAKE THE DEVILED EGGS

"Hmmm… what to write, what to write…" I muttered to myself. I had been staring at the candidacy application for about twenty minutes straight now. All of the information was filled out, and now the only space left open was the one where my essay would go. Of course I knew why I wanted to run for president, but that wasn't my dilemma. My dilemma was how to put everything into words.

I tapped my pencil against my chin and pursed my lips, something I always did when I was thinking. Gosh, why did that stupid little essay have to be so darn difficult to write?! So far all I had was 'I want to run for Student Council President because I feel that I can…' and that would not help Mrs. Brook help make her decision. I could just say what I was really feeling: that I wanted to run for president so that I could kick that stupid little shiny Volvo owner's butt in the race, because I knew I could. But that would help either.

"Urgh!" I shouted to myself. Edward wouldn't even be a good president. He'd just go around bribing people to vote for him, and then not even give them what they wanted. I, on the other hand, would give the people what they asked for and then some. No bribery, no tricks, just me. Truthful, and honest, and all that's in between. _Hey… that's good… Just put that into your essay you big, dumb dummy! _My mind shouted to me. Yeah, that's exactly what I'll put into my essay. My pencil touched the application and started scribbling away. I didn't even notice that I was speaking the words aloud as I wrote them down.

"I feel that I can… give… the people… what they want… without… having to… bribe… or trick… them. I won't… make… dumb promises that… I know… I can't keep… but I will… make… promises… that will make… everyone happy. I will also… take… into consideration… the faculty's… thoughts and ideas… as well. If I… am nominated… as a candidate… for senior… Student Council… president… I will… show… the school… what a… good… president is. Thank you." I made some minor tweaks, and then held my paper up proudly. Like the big goof that I am, I actually hugged it to me, knowing that I would definitely gain candidacy.

Just as I was sealing it into an envelope, I heard the words 'You're a tru-u-u-u-ue friend…' coming from my cell phone that was charging on the floor by my desk. Alice had set her personal ring tone to 'True Friend' by Miley Cyrus, even though we both despise the little teeny-bopper **(song on profile)**. Alice claimed it was a 'good song' and the lyrics really 'described our friendship'. I didn't bother to argue with her. I picked my phone off of the carpet, flipped it open, and pressed the 'talk' button.

"Hey, Al," I greeted her. All I heard on the other end was crying, sobbing, and more crying and sobbing.

"Alice?" I asked. Now it was even more crying and sobbing.

"Alice, what's wrong?" She took to deep breaths then answered me. I was starting to get worried.

"J-J-J-asper… w-won't ans-s-swer his ph-phone!" she squealed to me. I had to pull the phone away from my ear so as not to damage my hearing. Once her crying started back up, I tried to calm her down.

"Alice… Alice! Listen to me. I'm sure he's fine, sweetie. He's probably just asleep or resting or something."

"Or resting in peace!" she shouted.

"What? Alice what are you talking about?"

"He was sick, Bella! He hasn't answered any of my calls all day, or returned any of them! Maybe he's really… really… ill…" The sobbing got heavier. I sighed into the receiver.

"Alice, calm down. I'll come over, okay?" I asked her soothingly.

Sniff, sniff. "Really? You'll come over?" Sniff.

"Yes, if you really want me to—"

"Oh, Bella that would be great! I'll see you in five minutes!" Then she hung up. I sighed again, unplugging my phone from its charger. I grabbed my car keys and headed downstairs.

"Mom, I'm going over to Alice's house for a while! I'll be home soon!" I called to my mother, Renee, before heading out the door and into the garage. I smiled as I slid into my dark blue BMW M3 **(pic on profile)**. I closed my eyes and my smile grew wider when she purred to life.

"Ah, I know. It's good to be back, Jackie," I said to my car, rubbing the steering wheel. I know, it's weird to name your car, let alone _talk_ to it. But that's how darn attached I was to my baby. As far as the name goes, it's quite a funny story.

Last year when I was going to pick out a car with my father, Charlie, Alice and I were blasting a Jack's Mannequin CD. Their song 'Dark Blue' came on just as we were pulling into the auto mall parking lot. We stayed in the car for the entire song, just belting out the lyrics as Charlie mockingly tapped his head against his window. Just as the song ended, I spotted the most beautiful car I had ever seen sitting the BMW lot with a big 'FOR SALE' sign on the windshield. It was painted almost a metallic navy blue, and it was gorgeous. I raced out of Charlie's sleek black Mercedes and over to where my dream car was sitting. I ran my hand over the perfect paint job, turned to Charlie and Alice who were slowly approaching and said to him, "This is it. This is my car." Now, I had never been one for sports cars, but as soon as I saw this one, I was in heaven.

Anyway, I had 'Dark Blue' still playing in my head. I noticed the car was the same as the song title. Dark Blue, Jack's Mannequin, Jack, Jackie… that's how I got the name. And it suited her perfectly, don't ya think? **(Dark Blue song on profile)**

I snapped out of my reminiscence and pulled out of our five-car garage and onto the main street. I had Jack's Mannequin blasting in my stereo system as I pulled up to the Cullens' house. I saw Alice's yellow Porsche in the driveway, along with Edward's Volvo. _Great, he's home_, I thought sourly. I turned off Jackie, got out, and walked casually up to their giant porch. I looked through the glass doors and knocked twice.

"Come on in, Bella!" I heard Esme call, probably from the kitchen. I opened the door to see Edward playing Guitar Hero in the living room. Before I could get even the slightest of smart-ass remarks out, Esme came out of the kitchen to greet me.

"Hello, Bella dear," she greeted me with a warm hug. Gosh, why did Esme always have to smell so good? Tonight it was a French vanilla scent, one she wore very often. I returned the hug.

"Hi, Esme," I said to her before pulling away from that intoxicating perfume. _Best not to get high off of your best friend's mother's body spray_, I thought.

"Alice is upstairs," Esme told me, pointedly smirking in her daughter's general direction.

"Thanks." As I was making my way upstairs, I heard Edward mumble something like, "Don't stay too long," followed by a somewhat loud and painful-sounding smack, followed by Edward's equally as loud "Ow!" I smiled smugly to myself. I loved when Esme scolded Edward for being rude to me; it always put me in a good mood.

When I reached Alice's second-story bedroom, I knocked lightly before cracking the door open and peeking in.

"Al?" I called as I opened the door all the way and let myself in. I shut the door softly behind me and rushed over to where Alice was sitting on her king-sized bed, holding a picture frame to her heart. She had fresh tears pooling over her eyes and her chest was heaving slightly. I took a seat beside her on the bed and draped one arm over her shoulders.

"Oh, Bella!" she whimpered into me. I giggled softly at her absurdity. She must not have been able to hear it, due to her new sobs filling the room.

"Alice, calm down," I said, rubbing her back soothingly. She picked her head up and looked at me, her mouth open into a shocked 'O'.

"How can I calm down, Bella? My baby is sick!" Her voice cracked at the last word and I giggled again. That time she actually heard it. She smacked my arm, and I grabbed it jokingly.

"What was that for?" I asked, laughing.

"That was for making fun of me!" she pouted, folding her arms over her chest.

"Alice, I can't help making fun of you." Smack. "I just mean that you're being ridiculous. Jasper just has a little cold. He'll be better in no time."

"If that was true, he'd be better now," she whined. I sighed.

"Well, maybe we can go visit him," I told her. She immediately perked up and glanced smoothly at the keys I still had in my hand.

"Oh no, Alice. I didn't mean right now. It's a bit late," I said, looking at my watch for emphasis. Her smile fell and she slumped her shoulders.

"But Bella, why?" she complained.

"Because I said so." I couldn't help but let out a small smirk. She used the famous Alice Cullen puppy dog pout, but I wouldn't crack. I never did.

"Alice, the puppy-dog pout has never worked on me before, and I don't intend on letting you win with it now," I told her sternly. The pout was instantly replaced with a look of frustration.

"Bel-_la_…" We sat in silence for a few seconds, and I let out a long sigh.

"I'll tell you what Alice," I started. "I'm pretty sure that we're picking up Rosalie again tomorrow morning, meaning we'll most likely be taking her home after school." Alice's smile was slowly but surely coming back as she started to catch on to what I was insisting. "If you want, you can come with us and we can go visit Jasper when Emmett drops Rosalie off." It was too late to cover my ears as Alice let out a piercing squeal of joy.

"Yay! Thank you Izzy-lou!" I laughed at the use of my nickname that I was given by Alice and Jasper in kindergarten. I don't remember exactly how we got our nicknames; all I remembered was that it had something to do with Jim Carey's movie 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas'.

"No problem, Ali-hoo," I said, returning the nickname. "But if we get sick, I'm blaming you," I said with a pointed finger in her face. She rolled her eyes and hopped off her bed. I saw that the picture she had been cuddling was one of her and Jasper that I had taken of them last Valentine's Day. Jasper was leaning against Alice's crossed legs on my outdoor patio, and Alice had her arms wrapped around his neck, her face pushed up against his golden locks. It really was a great picture, probably one of the best I've ever taken, simply because it was such a caught-in-the-moment type of picture; not one that was posed or anything silly like that. She set the frame back on her nightstand with a smile of content playing on her face.

"Alice! Bella!" Esme called to us. We skipped out of her room and stood at the top of the stairs, leaning over the wooden railing.

"Yes, mom?" Alice asked. Esme was standing beside their long gray sofa.

"Dinner time," she said before grabbing the television remote from Edward's hand and shutting it off. I looked at my watch again to see that it was just about 7:30.

"Okay, I should really be going anyway," I said, more to myself than anyone else.

"About time," I heard Edward mutter from downstairs before Esme proceeded to smack him upside the head again. She gave him another scolding look before turning her attention back to myself as I started making my way back down the stairs.

"Bella, dear, don't be silly. You should stay for dinner."

"Hm, it depends on what you're having," I teased. Esme laughed before answering.

"I knew you would say something witty like that."

"Wow, who knew she had such wit?" Edward mumbled sarcastically from the couch. I shot him a death glare, but Esme chose to ignore his snide remark.

"Don't worry, I've already called your mother and okay-ed it with her," Esme said with a wink.

"I should have known you already would have," I joked. "So I guess I'm staying for dinner," I shrugged, then followed Esme into the kitchen.

"Oh joy!," Edward added sarcastically, using my choice of words from earlier today.

"Yay! Oh, it's been so long since you've had dinner over here, Bella!" Alice squeaked.

"Yes, I know. One week away from Esme Cullen's cooking really kills a person," I said sarcastically.

"And yet, that's still not nearly enough," Edward said with a smirk to me. _What the hell is up with him today? Usually he just ignores me_, I questioned mentally. I never fully understood why Edward was always so rude. Wasn't it _me_ that was supposed to hate _him_, if anything? I returned the rude smirk before rolling my eyes and sauntering over to my usual seat at the kitchen table. I decided to let Edward's comments go, and focused on dinner.

"Mmm, Esme that smells delicious," I complimented her. She turned away from the stove to smile her thanks at me. Alice took her place to my left with Edward on her other side, leaving two seats for Esme on Edward's left, and her husband, Dr. Carlisle Cullen, on my right. It was the seating arrangement we'd had ever since I could remember.

Dr. Cullen was a doctor at the local hospital. He usually got home around 6:00 or so, but I figured that tonight he had a later shift or something along those lines. As if reading my mind, Esme said to the three of us, "Carlisle is working late tonight. Apparently, there was a patient that needed lots of tending to. He should be home any minute, though." She placed the plate of honey-smoked turkey in the center of the table, next to the green beans and sweet potatoes. It felt like Thanksgiving.

Edward went to get a slice of turkey, but Esme slapped his hand. "Not until your father gets home." He slumped back in his chair and muttered something unintelligible under his breath. I chatted with Esme for a few minutes about how my mother was and such.

"Do you know if she'll be attending Judy's garden party on Wednesday?" she asked me.

"As far as I know she's still planning on it," I said truthfully. Judy Hale, Rosalie and Jasper's mother, hosted garden parties at their house the second Wednesday of every month, unless the weather was less than okay. My mother and Esme always attended. "She hasn't missed one of the famous Judy Hale garden parties since she started hosting them," I added. Esme laughed. She really was a sweet lady—almost like a second mother to me.

Just then we heard Carlisle come in the front door.

"Hello?" he called.

"In the kitchen, dear!" Esme semi-shouted back to him. He appeared in the kitchen then, mid-taking his scarf off.

"Well, look who it is!" he exclaimed excitedly. Carlisle is just as much a second father as Esme is a second mother. I stood up from my seat to greet him.

"Hey, Dr. C," I said, using the name I've been calling him since fifth grade, as he embraced me in a hug.

"Good evening, Bella. How are your parents?" he asked, taking off his coat and hanging it, along with his scarf, on the hook by the telephone.

"Very well, thanks." I smiled and then took my seat. When he noticed all of the food sitting on the table untouched, his smile fell.

"Oh, I hope you haven't been waiting too long," he said, glancing at Esme.

"Not at all," Alice chimed in.

"Yeah, not at all. Just fifteen minutes. Oh, and don't worry, Dad; none of us are starving in the slightest," Edward said. His sarcasm brought on another round of head smacking, from both of his parents this time.

"Well, it smells delicious," Carlisle said, mainly to Esme. She smiled back at him. They locked eyes for a good few seconds. It was so adorable, how in love they were. You could tell just at first glance that Mr. and Mrs. Cullen never fought and never would. Their love was unique, and impeccably sweet.

After a throat-clearing from Edward, a snicker from Alice, and a small smile from me, they broke their gaze on each other and turned back to the three hungry teenagers sitting before them.

"Well," Esme said, clapping her hands, "Dig in!" And boy, did we. The turkey was cooked to perfection! I took a few slices and doused them in gravy, then took two more to slather in sweet potatoes. I had two helpings of green beans, as well, and when my plate was cleared, I still wasn't full. One can never get enough of Esme Cullen's cooking. After every bite I took, I couldn't help but thank Esme for inviting me to stay and that the dinner was amazing.

"This food is positively scrumptious, Esme," I told her after finishing everything I could. Alice laughed beside me.

"'Positively scrumptious', Bella? Really?" she teased. I just shrugged my shoulders.

"That's the only synonym for 'good' that I haven't used yet," I told her in a 'duh' kind of tone. Everyone laughed, except for Edward. Instead, he just tried to show me up.

"That's not true, actually," he spoke for the first time since dinner started. I snapped my head up and narrowed my eyes, in warning, frustration, and anything else of those sorts.

"You haven't used delectable, luscious, exquisite, ambrosial, or the ever popular amazing," he said smugly.

"You know what else she hasn't used?" Alice asked in a fake sweet voice.

"What?" Edward asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Lame, rude, obnoxious, or the ever popular as—"

"Alice!" Carlisle and Esme exclaimed in unison. I nearly choked on my sweet tea when I realized that Alice Cullen, sweet, charming, Alice, was about to curse, and in front of her parents nonetheless. I decided to try to lighten the mood.

"Wow, what's with this family, huh?" I asked. Everyone turned to me, confused expressions lingering on their beautiful faces.

"I mean, these kids sound like they memorized a Webster's dictionary or thesaurus or something," I added. Everyone understood, and all but Edward chuckled at the mood-changer.

We continued chatting for a little while longer. I chose to decline Esme's invitation to stay for dessert for two reasons: one, because I couldn't take any more of Edward and his rude and unnecessary comments, and two, because I couldn't eat another bite. I did, however, let her talk me into taking a couple slices of chocolate marble cheesecake home for Renee and Charlie.

"Give your mother my love," she said to me on my way out the front door.

"And let Charlie know about that game this weekend," Carlisle added. I nodded to both of them.

"Will do. Thanks again for having me. Oh, and Alice—tomorrow afternoon, okay?" I reminded her. She nodded and smiled that Alice smile I'd come to know and love for over a decade.

I got in my car and headed back home, glancing every now and then over to the Tupperware full of cheesecake that was resting in the passenger seat. When I pulled into the garage and parked in my special space, I cut the engine and grabbed the deserts. I was about to step out of the car when I heard a soft tapping on my driver's side window. I turned my head sharply and tried to focus my vision on who it was through the dark tinted windows. I think I almost dropped the container of cheesecake when I realized who it was.

**A/N**

**Sooo? Yes, no? Hit, miss? Come on, you know you want to review and tell me!! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, especially the part about Alice. I just thought that was funny, how about you? So any ideas on who tapped on the window? Frankly, I don't know who it is. Because, well, I just decided I needed to write something gasp shocking in at the end, and leave a little cliffy gasp—again!.**

**I already know what's going to happen in the next chapter, well most of it. I still need to figure out who scared Bella. All in good time, though. All in good time…**

**Also, I have a little poem for you guys! Yay, a poem! I know- exciting, right? So here it is:**

**Roses are red,**

**Violets are blue.**

**I'll love you forever,**

**If you REVIEW!**

**-S.N.O.**

**oh, and P.S.- the title of this chapter was based off the title of an episode of wait for it GILMORE GIRLS! Gosh, I love that show.**


	3. I'm Not Saying 'Bulwark'

**A/N**

**Okay, sooo I didn't get much feedback from the last chapter. I appreciate all of your subscriptions and whatnot, but seriously: I can't write a good story without reviews, people! It's just not logical!**

**Anyway, for those of you who did review, I thank you. They really mean a lot to me.**

**Again, the last chapter was named in honor of the best show on the planet, Gilmore Girls. Just so you know, I'll probably be using episode titles and some quotes more. Even if they don't relate, I'll use them- just to be funny. (ahahahah) Just FYI. (btw, I'm a total Gilmore Girls junkie, if you haven't figured it out already.)**

**Now, who scared Bella in her garage? Ready to find out?**

**Awayyyy we go!**

CHAPTER THREE: I'M NOT SAYING 'BULWARK'

I pulled myself out of the car and slammed the door behind me.

"Geez, Jasper. Give me a hart attack, why don't you?" He smiled sheepishly and looked down. His blonde locks were dripping wet from the rain, and his clothes were almost completely soaked through.

I rolled my eyes and made my way to the door to the house, but stopped myself. I turned around sharply on my heel, cocked my head to the side, and raised a brow. Jasper lifted his head slowly and looked at me from underneath his eyelashes.

"Jasper…?" I started with an accusing tone.

"Yes, Bella?" I took two slow steps towards him.

"You know, this rain isn't going to help you get over being sick…" He gulped hard and looked away.

"Yeah, about that…" he said, running a rand through his matted hair.

"Jas…" I said in that annoying voice that swerves up in pitch when one wants to know something.

"Yes…?"

"You aren't really sick, are you?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest when he didn't answer. After a few seconds, he let out a small laugh.

"No, but after being out in the rain like I was, I might be," he replied. I couldn't help but let a small chuckle escape my mouth.

"Then, why did you say you were?" I continued.

"Because I needed an excuse to get this…" He reached into a pocket of his wet khaki pants and pulled out a long, blue velvet box. I knew what that box held; boy, did I know what that box held.

Jewelry.

"Jasper… what is that and who's it for?" I asked cautiously, stepping back. The inquiry made him laugh again.

"Calm down, Bell. It's for Alice." I let out an involuntary 'awe' when he said that. "Our anniversary is Friday. Today was the only time I could get this," he said, opening up the velvet box. I let out a loud gasp and placed a hand over my mouth. The necklace inside was absolutely gorgeous. It was white gold and every inch or so studded with round amethyst stones. In the very center was a large-ish heart-shaped amethyst encased in the white gold that made up the chain links. _He did really good on this one_, I thought. Amethyst is Alice's favorite gem, stone, jewel, whatever you want to call it. **(sorry, no picture. made this little gem up myself (: )**

"When we were at the mall last week, I caught her looking at it in the window at Tiffany's. You should have seen how her eyes lit up as soon as she saw it. All I could think was 'It's Perfect', and that I needed to get it for her. Obviously, it was something she wanted and adored, and I was more than happy to buy it for her. But of course I couldn't purchase it with her knowledge, so while she was looking in the Coach store, I told her I was going to go to the restroom, when in truth I was at Tiffany's putting the necklace on hold." Jasper was admiring his gift during every word that was just spoken. When he looked at it, there was a certain twinkle in his eyes that made my heart melt.

He took a deep breath, closed the box, and looked back up at me.

"So, today was the last day they would hold it for me, and I had to have some excuse for getting out of school without Alice knowing the truth. Can you keep it from her?" he asked me.

"Of course, Jasper. I think this is one of the sweetest things I've ever heard. I'd never spoil it for you," I assured him. And it really was probably the sweetest thing I'd ever witnessed. It was extremely romantic, even for Jasper. I always knew he was perfect for Alice. She loved him so much, and would never want anything to happen to him… Then something hit me. And I hit Jasper.

"Hey, what was that for?!" he asked, clutching the arm I'd just punched.

"_That_, Jazzy-poo, was for making Alice believe you were sleeping with the fishies because you wouldn't answer any of your calls while you were 'sick' today!" I yelled, punching him again. He looked confused, but I just waved it off.

"Well, sor-_ry_ for wanting to surprise my girlfriend!" We glared at each other for a few seconds before laughing it off.

"Wait, why didn't you just call to tell me?" I asked, scrunching my brows.

"Because…" He paused and turned his voice down to a whisper. "…Alice has special powers. Imagine if she somehow found out I talked on the phone with you when I wasn't even _answering her_ calls," he said, with a look that had 'DUH' written all over it.

"Haha, you're right. Guess that makes sence," I told him. He laughed with me then started speaking again.

"Well, I guess I should get going now." I nodded.

"Do you need a ride?" I asked, looking around for his car that was nowhere in sight.

"Nah, Rose is circling. She should be back around here any second," he said.

"Ah, so Rosalie's in on the plan also?" I asked with a wink.

"As are my parents, and Edward, and probably Emmett if Rose has told him, which I wouldn't doubt."

"So this morning when I asked where you were, why didn't she just tell me?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, maybe she didn't know if it was okay or not." As soon as he finished that sentence, Rosalie pulled up to where we were in her flashy red Mustang **(pic on profile)**. "'Kay, I gotta go. See you later Bella." He waved and made his way over to the passenger side of Rose's car.

"Oh wait!" I exclaimed, running after him. He stopped mid-door opening and looked at me.

"Tomorrow, Alice and I were planning on coming to visit you. As soon as you hear Emmett's Jeep coming up, hop in bed and look sick," I shouted through the rain. Jasper relayed the information to his sister, who nodded at me in agreement.

"Alright, can I leave now Bella?" Jasper asked me with a smile on his face.

"The sooner the merrier," I said with a smile of my own. He hopped into the Mustang and with a wave from both Hale siblings, they drove off. I shook my hair out of my face and took my shoes off before entering my house again.

"Mom, I'm back!" I shouted as I came in the door.

"Isabella Marie McCarty!" I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard both of my parents yell my full name from behind me. I turned around slowly to see them both standing with their arms folded and scowls appearing on their faces.

"Um, yeah?" I asked slowly.

"Where the _hell_ have you been?" Charlie asked, stepping forward. I took a small step back.

"Mom, I told you: I was at Alice's," I said matter-of-factly. My mother's face became softer and she looked like she was thinking.

"You did?" she asked. I raised my brows, and nodded a few times slowly. She scrunched up her eyebrows and looked at the floor, thinking again. Renee sometimes has problems remembering things. Not necessarily from her getting older, though that's part of it, but because sometimes she just doesn't pay enough attention so that she _can _remember.

"Oh, I suppose you did…" she concluded, moving her eyes back up to meet mine. "Now that you mention it, I do recall you yelling to me on your way out. I'm sorry Bella. Please pardon my mistake." I let a small smile creep up onto my face.

"Of course, Mom. It's not your fault you're getting older," I teased her with a wink. Charlie apologized as well, and then I was off to my bedroom again.

I passed by the bonus room on the second floor and heard Emmett on the phone, most likely with Rosalie. He was laughing a lot and making jokes that weren't even close to funny. I rolled my eyes and continued on to my room. When I opened my big blue door, I found my candidacy essay still on my desk right where I left it. I went over it twice deciding it was perfect and placed it in my folder.

When I shivered, I realized that I was still in my semi-wet clothes from running out in the rain. I went into my private (thank God) bathroom, and drew a nice warm bath. After placing my damp clothes in my hamper, I stepped into the water. It felt so nice. I turned on my shower radio and led my head rest. Baths were so relaxing, especially with some nice, soothing music.

I let myself soak for a good twenty minutes before noticing the time (almost ten o'clock) and got out. I dried off, then put on my most comfortable sweat pants and a baggy tee shirt and got into my amazingly soft a cushy queen-sized bed. I pulled the lime green comforter up to my neck, closed my eyes, and let sleep overtake me.

The next day went pretty normally. I went through my usual morning routine, got through school without and snide comments from Edward, and then school was over. (I couldn't hand in my application until Thursday.) I met up with Alice at Emmett's Jeep after school. She seemed really excited to be visiting her –cough-sick-cough- boyfriend. I was very proud of myself for not having let out any clues to the fact that Jasper was indeed as fit as a fiddle.

She chattered with Rosalie the entire drive, trying to dig out as much information about Jasper's health as possible. It was hard to keep from laughing every time Rose sighed before coming up with some preposterous answer to one of Alice's even more absurd questions. It was rather entertaining.

When we pulled up to the Hale's mansion, I noticed a familiar silver Volvo parked in the driveway. I gave Alice a pointed glare and she just shrugged.

"I guess he wanted to visit poor Jazzy also," she concluded. I'm almost positive I heard Rosalie sarcastically murmur something like, "yeah poor Jazzy" on the way up to the house. Alice continued to gabber up a storm before we were even inside. Her nerves did that to her. So did her excitement, and frustration… Come to think of it, Alice was always talking up a storm—scratch that, TORNADO.

When I started making my way up the stairs, Alice decided to stay down for a minute to 'calm her nerves'. I didn't bother to stop her.

Just as I reached the top of the staircase, I was nearly pushed back down again with a very hard force. Once I was able to regain my balance, I looked back down at the head of copper that was already just about at the foyer.

"Like my clumsiness couldn't be any more potent? Watch where you're going next time, Ed-_weird_!" I shouted after Edward. I admit, it was a bit immature, but I couldn't help it.

"I was, Bella-_loser_!. That's the whole point!" he yelled back to me as he made his way out the door. I let out a loud 'Ugh!' and started back up the staircase. Rosalie knocked on Jasper's door once we reached it.

"Hey, nimrod, you decent?" Rose called through the door.

"Yes, why?" Jasper called in return.

"Because I didn't know if you and your man-lover were doing something inappropriate and dirty, and I just wanted to make sure that you had your clothes back on because you have company," she said. I couldn't contain my giggles as she said it. Jasper laughed sarcastically.

"Very funny, Rosalie. And I just had company!" he complained.

"Yes I know: your man-lover. But you have more," she said as she opened the door.

"Ugh," he whined. Rosalie allowed me entrance into Jasper's room. He was laying in his bed watching Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. The first thing I heard when I entered the room was "Why is the rum always gone?" I turned back to Jasper.

"We can leave if you want us to get rum and bring it back for you so that you feel superior to Captain Jack, who, as always, is oh so delicious," I half-joked, stepping back towards the open door. Jasper smirked at my silliness.

"Nah, that's okay. I've already got my own stash hidden under the bed," he said, playing along. I laughed and began to unwrap my scarf from my neck. I placed it on the futon by the TV and then sat down.

"Where's Alice?" Jasper asked. I was about to answer when that dang energetic pixie burst thru the door and rushed over to Jasper's side.

"Oh, Jazzy-kins! Look at you! I was so worried!" she exclaimed, eyeing every inch of his 'ill' body. I rolled my eyes.

"She thought you were dead," I said to Jasper. Alice sharply focused her death-glare on me. I didn't stop though.

"You should have heard her, Jas. 'He won't answer his phone, he's not at school, he's RESTING IN PEACE!'" I mimicked Alice's high-pitched voice and flung the back of my hand up to my forehead dramatically.

"That's _enough_, Bella!" Alice commanded forcefully. For someone so tiny, she had quite a… quite a… _personality_. I laughed a little more and then relaxed on the futon again.

"Seriously, though. I was really worried, honey pie. So we came to see you!" She perked up and smiled at him. I faked a gag at the usage of the term 'honey pie'. Alice can be so corny towards Jasper sometimes.

"And we came bearing gifts!" I said, reaching into my school bag. Jasper sat up in his bed and eyed where my hands were going. Alice giggled.

"Gifts, huh?" he asked, bringing a worried and frantic gaze up to meet mine. I rolled my eyes, knowing that Alice wasn't looking, and then continued.

"Yes! Gifts!" I faked excitement.

"Oh yeah? What kind of gifts?"

"Homework!" I said, grabbing the textbooks and assignments out of my bag. Jasper rolled his eyes and slumped back against his pillows, that Alice was now attempting to fluff.

"Gee, excitement!" he said sarcastically.

"Yay for homework! Oh come on, Jas. Say it with me: Yay for homework!" I could tell he was trying not to laugh. He threw his hands in the air and shouted "Yay for homework!!" We all laughed.

"Thanks, but you guys really shouldn't be here," he said, placing the books I'd just handed him on his night stand.

"Awe, why not?" Alice asked with a pout. Jasper cupped her chin and tapped his thumb against her jutted-out bottom lip.

"Because we might catch the sicky germs?" I asked.

"Exactly," Jasper responded, turning back to me abruptly as though he'd forgotten I was there, which he probably had. They always tended to get so wrapped up in each other's presence in a matter of seconds and forget the rest of the world existed. It was really cute most of the time, but sometimes it could get annoying.

"Please, I haven't been sick since the fifth grade," I told Jasper. He side glanced smoothly at the drawer of his night stand and I immediately understood; that was where he was keeping Alice's anniversary gift and she was so close to it.

We chatted for a while, mostly laughing about how insanely funny the Pirates movie was. We had all watched it so many times before that we practically knew all the lines by heart. Anyone watching with us would probably think our quoting the film obnoxious.

We stayed for about an hour, and I realized I needed to get home to work on my own homework.

"Hey, we should get going, Al. Emmett just texted me that he'll be here in a minute," I said. Her smile fell into a frown, totally against leaving her 'sick' boyfriend's side. Reluctantly, she stood up. As she leaned in to kiss Jasper goodbye, he leaned away.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"Don't kiss me," he told her.

"Why not?" Alice asked with another famous pout.

"You might catch the sicky germs," he said, using my new term from earlier. At least he remembered that he was supposed to be sick.Alice just rolled her eyes.

"Please, I am _not_ afraid of any sicky germs. But I _am_ going to kiss my boyfriend!"

"You would risk your health for me?" Jasper asked in a small, hopeful voice.

"Always," Alice replied with a 'duh, of course' tone.

"Did I ever tell you how crazy you are?" Jasper asked her, allowing a smile to slowly spread across his face.

"Did I ever tell you how crazy in love with you I am?" Alice asked him back, letting a smile of her own appear.

"Not recently."

"I love you Jasper Whitlock Hale."

"I love you too Mary Alice Cullen." Alice leaned down again, and I turned away. I always felt like I was interrupting something incredibly private every time Alice and Jasper would kiss or say something like what they just did. As I was pulling my scarf on, I felt a small hand on my shoulder.

"You can look now, Bella," Alice said with a giggle. I smiled back at her. She waved to Jasper, told him she'd call him, and then walked out of the room. Before I followed after her, I looked back to Jasper.

"Thank you," he mouthed to me. I smiled and nodded.

"Anytime," I whispered back.

**A/N**

**Alright, so what did we think of chapter three? Honestly, it's not the best that I _could _have done. Truth be told, I'm not in a very pleasant mood right now. Somehow the fifty dollars I had in my purse is now missing. I have no idea where it is. On top of that, I'm dealing with the stress and nerves of starting school again tomorrow.**

**Which brings me to my next need-to-know topic—**

**Since I'm starting school again, it will be harder for me to update as often as I'd like to. I'll probably get a few more chapters up within the next two weeks, solely because the first couple weeks aren't that bad. Most likely, new chapters will be posted on the weekends, probably Sundays. It stinks, I know. But hey- it's the law.**

**Okay, so aside from my suckish news, how did we like the chapter? I got some of my ideas from a one Forever-Freesia. Didn't I tell you I'd give you credit? Eh?**

**Alrighty, now it's that favorite time of story-reading: REVIEW TIME!! Who's excited? I'M EXCITED! I have another little poem for you guys, too.**

**Violets are blue, ****Calla Liles are white.**

**If you review, U****pdate this week I might!**

**-S.N.O.**

**(Who liked my little Yoda grammar? I DID!)**


	4. Do Something To Make Me Hate You

**A/N**

**Okay, so again I started school this week, and it's been pretty crazy. Luckily, Labor Day has brought on a three-day weekend! Woo!! So that gives me some time to write chapter four! MORE WOO!! Forgive me if it's a little bit rocky. Again, a Gilmore Girls inspired chapter title.**

**Alexis Bledel, I owe this one to you, girl.**

**And…. Action!**

Chapter Four: Do Something To Make Me Hate You

I woke up the next morning with a throbbing throat and a burning forehead. The first thing I thought was that there was no way in Pandora's Box that I was sick. Jasper was faking his illness, so I couldn't have caught anything from him. As far as I knew, none of my family or anyone at school was sick. I tried to back track on how this burning sensation throughout my body could have come about…

Okay. Monday, I got up and went to school. I came home and filled out my application. Alice called, and I went over to her house. I stayed for dinner where I was mercilessly picked on by Edward. I went back to my house where I found Jasper in the garage and we talked about his scheme to get Alice's present. Wait a minute…

It was raining that night. Come to think of it, it had been raining quite a lot the past couple of days. But this was normal for Forks. Why did it decide to get me sick now?! And right when I needed to turn in my application?! I usually love Wednesdays! They're right in the middle of the week. Oh, loyal Wednesday- What have you done to me?! I can't miss school. I sat up quickly in my bed.

_Bad idea. Okay, so maybe I _can_ miss school… No. I cannot let that _Edward_ have that pleasure and satisfaction. I _will_ not let him. _I laid my head back on my pillow and looked at my alarm clock.

"Oh shnitz friggles!" I muttered. I only had twenty minutes to get ready and then get to school. How had I slept in so late? Obviously wondering why I wasn't downstairs already, Emmett knocked on my door.

"Bells?" he called. When I didn't answer, he opened the door to see me grabbing clothes, any clothes, and laying them out on the bed. There was no way I would have time to shower.

"Bella, what's going on? Why are you so late?" he asked, making his way over to me. I turned to him. He gasped aloud and covered a hand over his mouth. Did I really look as bad as I felt?

"Bella, are you okay?" He touched the back of one of his massive hands to my forehead. I cringed away, not wanting him to notice how hot I was and then telling me to stay home from school. But it was too late.

"God, Bella, you're on fire! Did you just get back from some all-night bonfire or something?" I pulled away from his touch, and grabbed a pair of jeans that I had laid out.

"No time to talk Emmett," I said, pulling the jeans hastily over my pajama shorts. "Have to get to school." I walked over to my closet and threw a black sweatshirt over my head then slipped on some flip-flops, even though it was probably thirty degrees outside. I stuffed my school things in my bag, slung it over my shoulder, and made my way to my door, only to be cut off by my dear big brother.

"Oh, whoa, whoa. Not so fast, el sick-o," he commanded, holding out an oversized arm to block me. I looked up at him with annoyed and pleading eyes.

"Emmett, move."

"No way, Bella. No school for you today." I tried to push past him, but his stance held strong. So I decided to try ducking under his arm. That didn't work; he just stood directly in front of me. I stomped my foot like the impatient five-year-old I really was.

"Em-_mett_. Come on! I have to get to school!" I whined. He just crossed his arms over his chest and nodded his head in the direction my bed was in. I copied his position and held my ground for what I knew was coming. Just as I expected, Emmett sighed and then threw me across his shoulder. I let out an audible "Umph!" in the process. I started punching at his back, which he probably couldn't feel at all.

"Em!" Punch. "Put me down! I have," punch, "to go," punch, "to SCHOOL!" Punch, punch, punch, punch.

"I'll put you down if you agree to get in bed yourself." I was still squirming and punching. I sighed loudly, dropped my arm-weapons that weren't doing anything anyway, and gave in.

"Fine, Emmett. I'll get in bed myself," I told him.

"And stay there?" Crap. He thought ahead. I sighed again and said "Yes."

"Promise?"

"Yes, okay? I'll get in bed and stay there." He set my feet back on the floor. I straightened out my messed up clothes as I glared up at my big brother. Not breaking my gaze, I slowly made my way over to my bed, slightly holding my hand behind me so as not to trip over or bump into anything. He had a smug expression played out on his face and he crossed his arms contently over his chest as he watched me unhappily climb back in my bed.

"Happy?" I asked sarcastically. His smugness increased.

"Very," he replied. He snuck a peak at my alarm clock.

"Crap!" he shouted, turning around and making his way out of my door.

"Wait!" I yelled after him.

"What?" He sharply turned around into my room and I put on my most innocent face.

"What if I have to go to the bathroom?" He grunted, rolled his eyes, and stormed back out of the room. I felt a smile on my face.

"OR WHAT IF I GET HUNGRY?!" I yelled again. I could hear his thunderous footsteps going down the stairs, and I couldn't stop myself from laughing.

"EMMETT! I'M SERIOUS! WHAT IF I—" I stopped myself when I heard the front door open and slam. I was still giggling hysterically, and I pulled myself out of bed to look out my window. Emmett threw the door of his Jeep open and closed, and I could faintly hear him muttering profanities to himself. Whether they were about my lack of maturity or the fact that arguing with me made him late, I couldn't tell. It was probably both, though.

Still smiling and laughing to myself, I crawled back in bed. Noticing how hot I was getting again, I realized I was still wearing my sweatshirt and jeans over my pajamas and threw them off. I grabbed a book off of my nightstand and opened to where I had last left off. Wuthering Heights is probably my most favorite novel that I've ever read. I settled into my sheets.

_Well, this _is_ kind of nice,_ I thought to myself, straying away from the book I held in my hands. I guess I _did_ deserve a break from school sometime, right? No immature ex-best friends, no bitchy classmates, no work… Wait. My schoolwork! I was going to miss an entire day of school and notes and lessons… My breathing started to get heavy. I could _not _miss that much school. You'd be surprised at how much happens right before Spring Break.

I couldn't get behind, if only for one day's worth. And I definitely couldn't let Edward have that satisfaction. I wouldn't.

But I promised Emmett I would stay here… Well, when has that ever stopped me before? I got out of bed and threw my sweatshirt and jeans back on. I stopped midway through packing up my bag, yet again.

I couldn't do this. I couldn't break my promise to Emmett. But I'd only missed a couple minutes of school—just the announcements and role call, most likely. But then again, I really didn't feel up to it.

I felt the pounding sensation in my head quicken. Yeah, definitely couldn't go to school. Hmm… so how could I get my schoolwork? Then a light bulb lit up in my mind. Duh! _Silly Bella, how could you be so naïve?_ I mentally scolded myself as I dug my cell phone out of my bag and dialed a familiar number. Of course, they wouldn't pick up. I pressed 'end' and then sent a txt message.

_'Hey. Sick. Stuck in bed. Get notes 'n work 'n such for me??'_ I hit send and waited for a reply.

As I did so, I took my hoodie and jeans back off. Hopefully I wouldn't decide to go back to school again and put them back on.

Just as I thought that, I heard my phone vibrate against my desk. I flipped it open and read the txt.

'_Most deff. Feel bttr,_' it read.

I sighed, relieved, and set my phone back on its charger. As I went back to pick up my book, I felt my stomach rumbling noisily. I placed a hand over my stomach, realizing that I still hadn't eaten any breakfast yet this morning.

I grabbed my cotton robe off of its hook, slid into its comfy-ness, and carefully walked down the stairs and into our giant kitchen. It smelled wonderfully of eggs and bacon **(A/N- neither of which I like, so idk why I even put that in there) **It seems our in-house cook, though I don't know why we had one since my mother's cooking was more than satisfying, had already left for the morning.

I got a plate out of the cupboard and scooped the food onto it. It tasted even better than it smelled. I took it with me as I went over into the living room and sat on the couch to see what was on TV.

_Probably nothing_, I guessed. Sighing, I clicked the 60" plasma screen to life, and scanned the 500 channels.

I was right.

Nothing good at all was on. Boy, this was going to be a long day.

XOXOXOXOXOOXOXOXXOOXOXXO

You know how when you're little, all you want to do is stay home from school so you can watch all of your favorite shows? Mine was Barney, and the occasional Clifford: The Big Red Dog. I remember that it was all I ever wanted: just to fake sick so I could lay on the couch and watch whichever of my favorite shows was on.

Well, it's not until you're older and you're forced to stay home during the day that you realize those kiddie shows that used to be fun are all that are on during the day, because all of the older viewers and adults and such are either at school or their jobs.

Today was the day that I realized this unfortunate fact. I stayed on the couch for hours just repeatedly flicking through all of our channels over and over, occasionally getting up to go to the bathroom or get a snack. With every change of the channel, I would look at the TV's clock. It seemed like it never changed!

Our cook, Esperanza, came back around one in the afternoon to see me staring blankly at whatever children's program I currently had showing.

"¿Nada interesante?" she asked me. I turned around towards the kitchen to find her setting bags of groceries on the kitchen island. Esperanza was born and raised in Madrid, Spain, and she had moved to the States about sixteen years ago, right before my parents first hired her. Charlie and Renee had made me and Emmett take Spanish in school as much as we could so that we could speak to her without confusion or complications. You could say all four of us could speak fluent Spanish.

"Nada," I responded, clicking off the television.

I got up from the couch and went over to help her put away the groceries.

"¿Necesita usted ayuda?" I asked her. She smiled up at me and nodded.

"¿Miss Bella, por qué está usted en casa?" she asked me as I put away the deli meat.

"No sentimiento tan bien." She came over to me and held a hand up to my forehead, just as Emmett had earlier this morning.

"¡Ay! ¡Usted se quema!" I flinched away from her outburst. She took me by the wrist and led me into her bathroom. I stood in the doorway as she rummaged through her medicine cabinet above her sink until her finally found what she was looking for. It seemed to be some disgusting flavored medicine.

I backed up slowly. I hate taking medicine. I can do pills, but the actual liquid stuff? Forget it.

"Ah, la parada que es tal bebé. ¡Esto ayudará su fiebre! Hágale mejor en una horas de la pareja." I didn't care how fast it healed me. I wasn't going to take the medicine.

"Usted lo tomará," she said, inching closer to me. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"¿O qué?" I asked. She returned the glare.

"O convenceré a Sr. Charlie y Miss Renee que usted necesita para quedarse en casa un día extra," she threatened. I gasped.

"Usted hace no," I told her. Her smile widened as I realized, yes. Yes, she would most certainly convince Charlie and Renee to make me stay home again. And I would not have that. I finally gave in and took the foul-tasting medicine. I crinkled my nose as I downed it in one gulp. Ew.

"¿Usted ve? ¿Eso no fue tan malo, fue?" I glared at her sarcastic question and walked back out to the living room. I walked straight past the groceries and plopped myself down on the couch again, and smiled at her as she came back out.

There. She can put them away herself. No need for my help.

I really loved Esperanza. She was one of the sweetest people you would ever meet, next to Esme, and she really was a fantastic cook. I knew that she meant well, but seriously. Is there no other way to get a girl healthy? What happened to just letting nature take its course? Huh? Just letting your body heal it self? I questioned mentally.

Esperanza started humming in the kitchen. She had a lovely voice and it always soothed me. Soon enough I started to cool down—not physically, but mentally. I could never stay mad at Espa for long. And at that last thought I switched the TV on and started boring myself to near death, for the second time today.

XOXOXOXOX

**(A/N- really quick, I know most of you probably can't understand that conversation that just took place between Bella and Esperanza, unless you went to a translation site to figure it out, like I did when I was typing it. LOL. So here it is.**

**E: Nothing interesting?**

**B: Nothing. Do you need help?**

**E: Miss Bella, why are you home?**

**B: I don't feel very well.**

**E: Ay! You're burning up! Oh, stop being such a baby. This will help you! Make you better in a couple hours.**

**E: You will take it.**

**B: Or what?**

**E: Or I will convince Mr. Charlie and Miss Renee that you need to stay home for an extra day.**

**B: You wouldn't.**

**E: You see? That wasn't so bad, was it?**

**-End Convo- Okay, back to the story!)**

XOXOXOXOX

As much as I hated to admit it, that medicine did help some. In about an hour I was starting to feel my temperature coming down. Though, I would never give that knowledge to Esperanza. No way would I let her know that it helped. However, it didn't make me feel entirely better. I still felt like I could throw up at any minute, and I still felt a little warm. I hadn't even gotten dressed or brushed my hair at all today. I probably looked a mess.

The rest of the day was very boring. Around 2, some of the better shows started playing. I watched some re-runs of America's Next Top Model on MTV. I started checking the time every two minutes to see when school would be out and Emmett would be coming home and I would be getting my notes and homework. They passed incredibly slowly.

Finally, at 3:24, the doorbell rang. I got the door myself, knowing how it would be. I opened it with as much of a smile as I could master at the moment. And then the smile fell. **(A/N- I was going to end it here, but that would be WAY too short of a chapter.)**

What in Lucifer's reach is Edward Cullen doing on my doorstep? Holding a stack of papers and notebooks, nonetheless. He looked down at me and a very amused smile spread across his face.

"Wow, Emmett wasn't kidding when he said you looked like you were just viciously mauled then molested by a tiger," he said to me. I narrowed my eyes. There was no way Emmett would ever say that.

"Emmett would never say that," I thought out loud.

"Not that you know…" Edward scoffed.

"What do you want, Edward?" I sneered. I didn't have time for his comments.

"I just wanted to actually witness the tiger molest-ee." I glared at him.

"Viciously mauled you said?" I asked.

"Yes…"

"You haven't seen viciously mauled until you see what I'm going to do you, you ruthless, immature, jerk!" I went to lunge at him, but tripped over the doorframe.

Damn you, clumsy feet! Why must you betray me now of all times!? I had my hands out in front of me, right next to Edward's shaking-from-hyena-laughter-feet.

"Wow, Bella! Those are some… talented… feet… you've got there…" he got out between laughter.

I pulled myself up and straightened out my robe as I glared at the monstrosity that was Edward.

"Do you need something?! Or did you just come to see me fall over myself for your own enjoyment?!" His laughter was calming down.

"I came to give you the notes and work you missed. Your falling over yourself was purely a bonus to the sickly sight before me."

"I told Alice to come. Why did you come instead?" I barked, still pissed off. He rolled his eyes.

"She said not wanting to catch your 'sicky germs' or something like that."

"So why didn't she just give it to Emmett so that he could give it to me later?" He started laughing again. What was so funny _now?_

"WHAT?!" I spat.

"You want… Emmett… to… _give it to you_?" He held a fist to his mouth to muffle his giggles. Yes, giggles. What a crude thing to say. I felt my mouth hanging wide open in shock. I grabbed the pile of work out of his hands.

"There. I have my crap. You can go now, you immature freak!" He really needed to leave before I did something I wouldn't regret.

"Okay, I'll be sure to relay the message to Emmett if I see him…" he said, still chuckling.

"Leave! NOW!" I said, pointing a finger in the direction that his car was in. He stopped laughing, snorted, and started to turn away.

"Now I see why I'm not friends with you anymore, Bella." I was taken aback by his words.

"What does that mean?" I asked in a small voice.

"It means that you can't take a simple joke. You accuse others of being immature, but you can't see that you're less than mature yourself."

"Well, your 'jokes' aren't very funny."

"For God's sakes, Bella, I'm a teenage boy! Nothing we 'joke' about is true! If someone says something that sounds remotely dirty, we twist it! Not just to poor, helpless brats like you, but to our own friends and family. It's what we do. It's who we are." I felt water welling up in my eyes. I would not cry in front of Edward Cullen, let alone _because_ of Edward Cullen. I've done that too much in the past, and I'd sworn never to do it again.

"I am not a poor, helpless brat," I said, hardly more than a whisper. He loud a small laugh.

"You're right. You're a rich, spoiled bitch. You're welcome for the homework." And with that, he turned towards his car, got in, and sped away.

His words had gotten to me more than I ever would have thought I could have ever allowed. I felt a line of liquid drip down my cheek and stop at the line of my jaw.

Well, at least he didn't see my cry.

**A/N**

**So, what did we think gang? Honestly, I wasn't planning on writing such a tense chapter. It was just supposed to be that Edward came over to give Bella her stuff, she was rude to him, he did the whole 'you're welcome thing' and she felt bad about not saying "Thanks". Now we've got name-calling, crying, and Esperanza. Soooo not the chapter I was going for.**

**But I still LOVED it! How about you? I can't wait to write the next chapter. It probably will be about another week, again because of school. Sorry, I know. It sucks. And It's majorly cutting into my writing time. Oh well, I'll still continue to update as often as possible. That is, if I get enough reviews…**

**No poem this chapter. Still love you.**

**-SoNotObsessed**


	5. Off With His Head!

**A/N**

**Alright, folks. I decided to do something that I've only done ONCE before. Drum roll please…. (drums)…. EPOV CHAPTER!! –covers ears to shield sound of screaming/shrieking/shouting Edward-obsessed girls, like myself- It overlaps with chapter 5, but no worries: all will be well with the world, and you'll get knew events.**

**Story behind this chapter title: the Queen of Hearts said it like, a million times (only with 'her') in Alice in Wonderland. Amazing movie, right? Right.**

**Okay, okay, I know you're all excited. So shall we get on with it? We shall!**

Chapter 5: Off With His Head

Ugh, why did I have to go give Bella her stupid make-up work? Why should I be the one to go to the home of the person who despises me and do such a nice thing? Bella would probably snatch the work out of my hands and slam the door on my nose before I even got a chance to say how terrible I knew she would look. (Bella never looked attractive when she was sick.) Why should I give her time out of my schedule? Huh? Can somebody please answer that?!

It's because I'm just that type of person. The type that does things asked of him, no matter what the task ultimately is. The type that was raised to be curteous, even to those who don't treat him the same way.

Well, curse that damn gentlemanly-ness of mine! I didn't want to be nice to Bella. She never was to me, so why should I be to her? I had no clue why she even still hated me for that whole debacle in middle school. I didn't even break that stupid laser, gun, whatever it was! See? I can't even REMEMBER what it was! She just assumed that it was me. But I would never do that to anyone, especially Bella, who was my best friend for as long as I can remember. Those were the days...

But Alice asked me to take her her homework and notes that she missed. I started to argue, but she insisted that I was much more immune to getting sick and she didn't want to risk herself missing school.

Her exact words: "You haven't been sick since you were three. My boyfriend is sick, and he just passed it on to my best friend. I am NOT going to risk my own health by going over there and opening up my lungs to my dying best-friend!"

Um, hello, can you say 'melodramatic'?

But I could never resist my sister's puppy-dog eyes. It was one of my most self-hated weaknesses. And now I was on my way to deliver missed class work and notes to Bella McCarty, enemy by choice.

XOXOXOXOXO

When I pulled up to the familiar old-fashioned house, my heart rate picked up speed. I could just picture Bella's face when she saw it was me at the door instead of her trustworthy best friend. Humph. It would probably look like some kind of morph between the Queen Of Hearts' disturbing frown, a German Shepherd's fierce death-glare, and Bella's own dagger-scowl that I had come to know over the past couple years. Not a sight that was likely to be pretty.

I sighed, a mixture of frustration, annoyance, and exasperation, and grabbed Bella's work. I hesitated before knocking on the door. I don't really know why, but I did. Something was yelling in my head, "Don't do it! Just leave it on the step, in a UPS/Ding-dong-ditch sort of way! Just turn around and walk back to the car as quickly as possible without letting her know you're there on her doorstep."

But I couldn't.

There was some feeling in me that got my heart pumping faster, almost an adrenaline rush, at the thought of seeing Bella. She was so pretty, with that long, chestnut hair, and those big brown eyes, and that fair skin…

_No, Edward! This is no time for fantasizing about your ex-best friend_. I shook my last thoughts from my head and rang the over-sized antique doorbell.

It felt like I was waiting for hours for someone to answer the door. Maybe she did know I was here, and decided not to answer, hoping that I'll just set the stuff down and leave, like a good little delivery man.

But she didn't.

Instead, she opened the door with a wide smile on her face. I think I actually might have gasped at the sight standing before me. And I thought the Queen/dog/dagger thing would have been ugly. But you didn't see the Bella-stranger in front of me.

Emmett had mentioned that she didn't look very well, but he failed to elaborate on how not very well was "not very well". Her hair was matted and flying all over the place. Her face was all red and splotchy, as if she had just been crying. There were dark purple rings around her eyes, and she was still in her pajamas. I think that bright smile was the only attractive thing about her at that moment.

But then there was nothing. Her beautiful grin dropped as soon as she processed that it was me standing there on the porch and not Alice. Her eyes flickered from my face to the school materials in my hands. I decided that if she was going to be unhappy to see me, I'd play up my part a bit as well. I thought of the meanest thing that I could say at that moment and spoke the words.

"Wow, Emmett wasn't kidding when he said you looked like you were just viciously mauled then molested by a tiger," I lied. Emmett really didn't say that, he never would. But I just wanted to get a rise out of her. Her eyes narrowed as I made my comment.

"Emmett would never say that." Whoa, what happened to that forceful voice? I guess that was taken away by the sick-gods along with her beauty. _Wait, what beauty? There is no beauty! She hates you! She's not pretty!_ I scolded myself mentally, but then recomposed myself.

"Not that you know…" I mumbled with a sniff.

"What do you want Edward?" she asked through clenched teeth, clearly not wanting to put up with me. That just motivated me more. I shrugged then answered.

"I just wanted to actually witness the tiger molest-ee."

That seemed to set her over the edge. "Viciously mauled, you said?" she asked, in an intimidating-ly sweet voice.

"Yes…" I replied cautiously.

"You haven't seen viciously mauled until you see what I'm going to do to you, you ruthless, immature, jerk!"

She lunged to attack me, but instead tripped over the door frame, and right onto her hands and knees. I admit I got a bit scared, but after I saw that she was perfectly fine, I couldn't stop the burst of laughter that escaped me.

"Wow, Bella! Those are some… talented… feet… you've got there…"

She got up and straightened out her robe, then proceeded to glare those German Shepherd daggers at me.

"Do you need something?! Or did you just come to see me fall over myself for your own enjoyment?!"

My laughter was calming down now, and I answered the rhetorical question truthfully.

"I came to give you the notes and work you missed. Your falling over yourself was purely a bonus to the sickly sight before me."

Okay, so half truthfully. I mean, I did come to give her the work. And the falling thing really was a coincidental bonus. But I did not want to come to see how awful she looked.

"I told Alice to come. Why did you come instead?"

"She said something about not wanting to catch your 'sicky germs' or something like that," I said, rolling my eyes in the process. She should know that about Alice by now.

"So why didn't she just give it to Emmett so that he could give it to me later?"

Okay, I couldn't stop my laughter this time. It was actually more voluntary than not, simply because I wanted to show her just how 'immature' I could be.

"WHAT?!" she spat at me.

"You want… Emmett… to… _give it to you_?" I couldn't help it. She put it out there and it was just too easy. She gasped and grabbed the school work out of my arms. I thought I saw a slip of paper fall from my peripheral vision. I would have picked it up for Bella if she weren't being so damn annoying and stubborn and ignorant right now. I let it lay.

"There. I have my crap. You can go now, you immature perv!"

"Okay, I'll be sure to relay the message to Emmett if I see him…" I was still laughing. She jabbed a finger in the direction my car was sitting in and then spoke again.

"Leave! NOW!"

"Now I see why I'm not friends with you anymore, Bella."

"What does that mean?" she asked softly. Honestly, I had no idea what it meant. I didn't even realize that I was the one who had spoken those words until I saw the confusion and hurt flash in Bella's eyes. And unfortunately, I didn't stop to think about what came out of my mouth next, either.

"It means that you can't take a simple joke. You accuse others of being immature, but you can't see that you're less than mature yourself." _What? Edward, stop yourself, NOW! Before it gets to be too late!_

"Well, your 'jokes' aren't very funny." It was officially too late. I knew that they weren't funny. Well, some of them were but—

"For God's sakes, Bella, I'm a teenage boy!" _Stop, Edward, Stop!_ "Nothing we 'joke' about is true! If someone says something that sounds remotely dirty, we twist it! Not just to poor, helpless brats like you, but to our own friends and family. It's what we do. It's _who we are_."

Yep, definitely too late. I instantly regretted every word that had just come out of my mouth since I'd been standing there on the McCartys' doorstep. I hadn't meant a word I said, well, at least none of them directed towards Bella.

I mean, poor helpless brat? Where did that come from? I saw the wetness threatening to pool over in her eyes. I felt like I might cry myself.

"I am not a poor, helpless brat." I knew that way better than she did. Boy, did I know it. But that didn't stop the small laugh that escaped my lips or those next few lines, either.

"You're right. You're a rich, spoiled bitch. You're welcome for the homework."

I turned away on my heel and sped off in my car, but not fast enough to see a single tear escape from Bella's right eye.

OXOXOXOX

I couldn't believe what I had just done. It was supposed to be a simple mission. Get there, drop it off, get out. That was definitely not what happened.

I had said hurtful words that meant absolutely nothing at all and had made Bella cry. I had actually made Isabella McCarty let a tear fall because of things I said. I couldn't believe it. I never thought I'd see the day where Bella cried.

And I hated it. It was the most unbearable feeling in the world, knowing that you could bring such pain to someone, someone that used to be so near and dear to you. I hated it. And I hated me.

I felt my mouth hanging open in a wide 'O' all throughout my drive home. I couldn't let it shut. I was so shocked at myself. I mean, I know I'd made some stupid comments to Bella in the past, but those had all been immature and teenager-ish.

The words that were spoken this afternoon were neither immature nor teenager-ish.

I dreaded going home and having to explain to my family what had happened between Bella and I. Of course I had to tell them; if not, they'd eventually find out from Alice who would have most likely found out from Bella herself. Maybe I could just play it off and say that it slipped my mind if it ever came up. Nah, too uncaring.

Or maybe I could say that Bella started it? No, they'd know for sure that I was the antagonist. Bella never really started any rude exchange of words. She was too sweet for that.

I guess I had to explain everything in truth. I sighed aloud and pulled into my family's six car garage.

I cut the engine of my silver Volvo and braced myself for what was surely going to be a long, humiliating, criticizing conversation with my family. As soon as I walked in through the door I was bombarded with a very annoyed looking Alice.

"What the hell did you do?! Why was Bella crying and screaming to me on the phone?! Why were the only words I could actually make out 'Edward', 'hate', and 'asshole'?!" Bella was screaming… and crying? Of course she was, I had seen it. But… still?

I was trying to get around Alice so that I could actually step inside the house, but that darn pixie twin of mine just kept blocking my way.

"WHY AREN'T YOU ANSWERING ME?!" She was really getting frustrated. She crossed her arms forcefully over her chest and gave me a stern look.

"Alice, I really don't feel like—"

"I don't care what you do or don't feel like, Edward! What did you do to my best friend?!" That did it.

"What did _I_ do to your _best friend_? More like what did _she_ do to your _brother_! God, Alice; do you ever stop to consider _my_ feelings and how I'm affected by this hatred?" I yelled, throwing my hands in the air. More of the involuntary words. Gah, curse this mind and mouth of mine.

"All the time," she responded flatly. I sighed, as did she.

"What did you do, Edward?" She could see right through my defense.

"I um, may have said some things…"

"Yeah, no doubt about that."

"What?"

"Oh, come on, Edward. You're always saying rude crap to Bella for no reason at all. Why would this time be any different?"

I considered that. Why would it be any different? It's true how I'm always coming up with some new way to get on Bella's nerves. But this time wasn't voluntary… it had been like someone else was inside my body, saying the worst things someone could say.

But this time wasn't my fault.

"You're right. I don't know why it would be different. But I didn't even— You know what? No. I'm not going to get into this." Alice was looking as confused as ever.

"I said Bella was a rich, spoiled bitch. I told her that that's how I know why I'm not friends with her anymore. I told her she doesn't understand that most of the things I say I don't mean at all. That's it. End of discussion. Goodbye."

I pushed past her and started up the stairs, only to be stopped by my sister once again. She grabbed my arm and turned me back around to face her. Gosh, was she short.

She was looking very confused and concerned all at the same time. I guess she could see through that explanation, too.

"Edward, you're my brother and I love you. I never have and I never will choose a side between you and Bella. I've always tried to just ignore the entire situation, and get over it, which I mostly have. But what aren't you telling me right now?"

I sighed. I really didn't want to get Bella in trouble with Alice for the way she was earlier today. I just decided not to let it go any further.

"Alice, I told you everything you need to know. Now will you please let me go so I can go do my homework and finish filling out my application?"

She dropped her grip, and the conversation, and walked into the kitchen. I heard her start chattering away. Was Mom home? Had she just heard that entire yell-fest between Alice and I? Answering my questions, my mother sauntered out of the kitchen looking deeply disappointed in me.

I rolled my eyes and tried to get back upstairs, unsuccessfully.

"Edward?" my Mom called quietly. I turned back around to see her standing at the bottom step.

"Hm?" I mumbled.

"Well, I… Could you come down here please?"

"What is it, Mom?" I asked, stepping back down to her level.

"Well, I just talked with Alice. Actually, Alice talked with me. I really didn't need to hear what she had to say, seeing as how I sort of overheard the entire conversation between you two…" So she had been listening. Figures. "But anyway, Alice was right. There's something you're not telling her, or us. What's going on?"

I waited a few seconds to respond to her, searching for my answer in her eyes. She really was concerned. But I wasn't going to budge. I didn't want to continue in this silly feud anymore. If Bella still wanted to, then fine. But after tonight I realized that I was no longer going to give in and continue to be an inconsiderate jerk to Bella. That's done. The me that Bella thinks she knows is gone. From now on, it's just me. I won't necessarily be nice to her, but I won't be rude either.

That's what I told my mother.

"…so it's nothing that you need to worry about. No more snide remarks. No more crude jokes. I'm just going to be me, whether Isabella McCarty likes it or not. I'm going to go up and do my homework." I kissed her forehead and took the stairs two at a time, so as not to have any more inquiries thrown my way.

I closed my bedroom door behind me and sat down at my cherry-wood desk, taking out my schoolbooks. I breezed through my homework easily, even though my mind was still on Bella. 'Can I really go through with the whole being nice thing?' 'What if she still acts the same and hates me?' 'What the _hell_ am I doing?'

I shook my head to clear away the thoughts and stuffed my homework back into my bag. Time to edit my application. I took out the folder I was sure it would be in, but it wasn't. That was strange. It should be in there… I started searching through every folder in my bag, but found no such application. I went through every binder, manila folder, pocket, and anything else I could think of. My application wasn't in my bag at all. I searched my desk from top to bottom, left to right. I tore my room apart. I even looked everywhere downstairs. But my application was nowhere to be found.

"What are you doing?"

I snapped out of my rummaging at the sound of Alice's voice. I turned around to look at her briefly, brow furrowed in confusion, then went back to looking.

"My application for the candidate nomination. It's due tomorrow and I can't find it anywhere."

"That's weird… Oh well." I turned back around in shock to see her shrug. Didn't she know how much this meant to me? I needed to be student council president! And all she had to say is, 'that's weird, oh well?' Ugh! Man, did she annoy me.

"I don't have time for this, Al. I need to find it!" She left with a quick 'whatever' and I sighed, trying to retrace my steps.

Okay. I know I had it today at school- that's where I was finishing my rough draft of my essay. I put it in my backpack. After school, I went over to Bella's house. I had given her the make-up work and notes, papers and notebooks. Papers and notebooks… I vaguely recalled dropping one piece of paper as Bella grabbed the pile out of my arms. It landed on the front porch and I thought it looked familiar, but I wasn't really paying attention at the time…

Damn it! My application is at Bella's house! I had to go get it. Now. That is, if she hasn't already destroyed it. Or worse, read it… Oh, but she wouldn't…

_Would she?_

I grabbed my car keys off the hook and made my way back to the McCarty residence before, I hoped, she could do either inexplicable thing.

**A/N**

**Okay, so that was the EPOV chapter? How'd you guys like it? Frankly, it's not my best. But I still pretty much liked it. I know, the whole 'getting Bella in trouble' thing might be a bit confusing. Why would Bella be at fault, right? I don't know. That's just how I decided to make Edward's mind work. But if you think about it, then it kind of makes sense. Any questions, feel free to ask.**

**And I'm sorry this is a little overdue. Again, school. Sorry, but I have to. It's the law. Ugh. Next chapter should be up sometime this week. I'm starting softball Wednesday, so that's going to cut back my writing time as well. Mega Ugh.**

**Anyway, I feel another poem coming on:**

**Beauty starts with 'B',**

**As does the word 'bar'.**

**But my favorite word**

**Is 'REVIEW', which starts with 'R'!!**

**Yayyyy, review! Hugs, kisses, love-**

**-S.N.O.**


	6. It Smells Like Guilt and Chanel No 5

**A/N**

**Alright, so I want to thank everyone for all of the subscriptions and favorite story/author things. Your support means so much to me, you don't even know! But seriously folks, I NEED more reviews!! How will I know how to improve if you don't TELL ME?! Please, please, please, review!**

**Anyway, how did you guys like the EPOV chapter? I'll try to get more of those up. And now, here's Chapter Six!**

CHAPTER SIX: It Smells Like Guilt and Chanel No.5

After Edward sped off, I turned to go back into the house, but something white caught my eye. I looked down at the welcome mat on which a single sheet of paper was turned over. I bent down to pick it up. _Edward must have let one of my notes-sheets drop when I took my work_, I concluded, rolling my eyes. I left the paper face down and placed it on the very bottom of my pile, then went inside and slammed the door.

"Miss Bella?" I heard Espa call from the kitchen. She probably heard the entire conversation, even if she was most likely only able to understand bits and pieces. She was probably wondering what all the screaming and door-slamming was about.

I paused to check my face in the mirror by the front door. Oh gosh, did I look a mess. My face was all red and blotchy from the crying I had done (why had I even let tears fall? URG!) and my cheeks were wet. I wiped my face with my free hand and tried to compose myself as best as I could.

"Miss Bella?" Espa repeated as she came around the corner.

"Yes?"

"_Who was at the door_?" **(A/N Note that whenever someone's talking to Esperanza, it's in Spanish, but instead of just retyping the convo over again later, I'm just going to put the translations in italics. Comprendo?)**

"_No one, Espa_." I walked around her and into the dining room to set my work down, feeling that she was right on my heels. I wheeled around sharply to look at her.

"_What_?!" She flinched, obviously startled by my outburst.

"_I just wanted to see if you were okay. It didn't sound like nothing happened_," she said softly. I sighed and responded.

"_I know. It wasn't 'nothing' exactly, but… it's nothing you need to worry about. Okay?_" I forced a smile on my face and she seemed convinced enough. She smiled back at me and then went back into the kitchen to start working on dinner.

Sighing again, I picked up my class work and headed upstairs to my room. I closed the olive green-painted door behind me and sauntered over to my full-sized bed. I wasn't really in the mood to sit in my wooden chair at my wooden desk to do a load of school work right now, so I figured I could just do it while sitting comfortably on my massive bed.

I loved my bed. It was probably the most comfy thing I had ever sat on. It was covered in olive green sheets and a bright violet comforter. I zipped up the green canopy netting that surrounded my bed and spread out all my work. I had to hop up on my bed because it was so high, and then settled myself against the green and purple polka-dotted pillows. I picked up the first thing that I saw: the lone paper from the porch mat.

I sighed and turned it over. But it wasn't the notes I'd expected.

The top of the paper read: "STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDACY APPLICATION". That was strange… how did my application get onto the porch? I scanned it over more, only to realize that this wasn't my application. Instead, the paper I now held in my hand in fact belonged to Edward Cullen.

I didn't know what to do. Should I read it? Should I just put it back and give it back to him tomorrow? Should I call him and tell him he left it here? Of course I _wanted_ to read it, see what Ed-duface had put in his essay, but that wasn't right. I couldn't read someone else's app… But at the same time, I felt that Edward deserved to have me read it. He'd given me enough crap in the past, not to mention destroyed my 8th grade science project, and now didn't I owe it to him to return that very small gesture?

But I knew I shouldn't. No matter what I personally thought of Edward and no matter what he'd done to me previously, it still wasn't right. I sighed and set the paper off the side and hid it under my Calculus book.

My work was naturally easy tonight. I copied all of the notes perfectly and breezed through everything in record time. But every few seconds I'd catch myself glancing back at the Calculus book. Well, no that was a lie. I would catch myself looking at what was hiding _under_ the textbook. I resisted well enough, until it was time that I needed the book for its actual purpose.

I reached over and picked it up slowly, trying extremely hard not to look at the application that was face-down on my bed.

I sighed in triumph and opened up my book to begin my assignment. But it was just too hard to concentrate.

I mean, before, there was something keeping me from reading the application, and that was my textbook. But now that I had to use it for homework, there was nothing to stop me from sneaking a peak at Edward's essay.

It was so difficult! I couldn't keep my mind from wondering what he had written. Eventually, I couldn't take it.

One little skim couldn't hurt, right?

I read over all the basic information: Name- Edward Anthony Cullen; Current Year- Junior; D.O.B- June 5. I was trying to be as slow a reader as possible.

As I was about to start reading the essay, I heard a car pull up noisily to the house. Was Emmett home from practice already? It was only 4:15. He shouldn't be home till five… Oh well. There was a knock on the door, and I rolled my eyes. _He forgot his key again_, I thought. There was some soft conversing downstairs followed by thunderous footsteps making their way up the stairs.

I stuck the Edward's application under my Chemistry book. No need for Emmett to know about my little scandal.

The footsteps stopped abruptly right outside my door, and then there were three hard knocks.

What was up with Emmett right now?

"I'm doing homework!" I shouted to the door. Emmett always knew to leave me alone when I was doing my work. But the door thrust open.

"What are you do—"

"Where is it?!"

It hadn't been Emmett pulling into the driveway. It hadn't been Emmett knock downstairs. It hadn't been Emmett pound up the stairs and knock forcefully at my door.

It was Edward.

My breath caught in my throat and my eyes went wide. Of course he would realize that his application was missing by now. I composed myself and glared at him.

"Hey! I could have been naked, ya know!"

"Like that would have phased me? Where is it?!" He yelled repeated, making his way over to my bed.

He unzipped the canopy.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" I threw my science book down and jumped over to try and pull the zipper back down.

"WHERE IS IT, BELLA?!"

"WHERE IS _WHAT_, EDWARD?!" I screamed back at him, pretending to not know what he was talking about.

His strength won over mine and he zipped open the canopy and started ruffling through my school work.

"What are you doing? Edward, stop! That's my school—"

"Ah-hah! I knew you had it!"

He waved a crinkled application in my hand.

"What is that?"

"Like you didn't know you had it? I can't believe you read it, Bella!" I gulped hard.

"Read WHAT?!"

"My application! That is so wrong, and invasive, and just plain rude! Ugh, how could you do that? I would never read yours!" His face was somewhere between shocked, hurt, and angry. I could understand that.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. I can see it in your eyes and I can hear it in your voice. I can't believe you." His voice was almost a whisper now. I could tell he was really hurt.

"I didn't even know that I had it in my possession, Edward," I lied. He raised one perfect eyebrow. I sighed and gave in. Kind of.

"Okay, well maybe I did know I had it, but— Wait, Edward. Hold on!" I jumped off my bed and rushed to follow him out the door. I tried to grab his arm, but he pulled it away.

"Edward, hold ON!"

"What?!" he spat, turning abruptly back to face me. I stumbled backwards and almost fell, but was caught by one strong hand on my elbow. Edward pulled me back up and straightened me out.

"Thanks."

"Not like you deserved it," he muttered, looking over my head. I sighed.

"I know. But Edward, really I didn't read it. I was tempted to, sure, but the only thing I read was your name and current year. I have no idea what was in your essay," I stated truthfully. I felt relieved that I had been kept from reading it. I could really see how hurt Edward was just at the _thought_.

"Somehow I don't believe you."

"Yeah, I get that. But I didn't. I guess you don't have to believe me; believe whatever you want. But I didn't read it, Edward. I promise." We were back to speaking in normal voices now.

He looked back down at me with a hint of… understanding in his eyes? No. It quickly turned to hurt/anger again.

"You mean just like the way I promised I never destroyed your proton laser over and over and you still chose to believe that I did, even when I didn't?" Now it was my turn to be hurt.

"This is completely different, Edward."

"How so?"

"I don't… It just is, okay? _I_ didn't crush _your_ dream."

"And neither did I!"

Okay, so maybe we weren't quite back to normal tones. I sighed again.

"Edward…"

"What, Bella?"

"I don't know."

"Well, nothing new there."

"I did nothing to deserve that."

"And I did nothing to deserve this."

"Deserve what?

"You hating me for something I didn't do."

"Well, if you didn't do it, who did?"

"I don't know…"

"Well, nothing new there," I said, using his comment from just a moment ago.

"Bella, the day you believe me for not ruining your project is the day I'll believe you for not reading my application."

"Well… then I guess you'll never believe me." He sighed.

"If that's how it's going to be… Bye, Bella." He turned back around and walked down the stairs, hands unhappily in his pockets.

He had seemed so genuine about the whole not ruining my project thing. But I had seen him in the school plays: he's quite the actor. He could have been faking the entire thing for all I knew.

If that was the case, then why was there that microscopic part of me that felt that… he was telling the truth?

**A/N**

**Well, gang what did we think? I know it was short and there wasn't as much dialogue as some would have liked, but I still liked it. How about you?**

**I think we're making a major breakthrough actually. Also, like I stated before the chapter started, I reeeeaalllyyy need more reviews guys! They would help me out so much.**

**I'm too tired to think of a new poem right now, so I guess this is it.**

**New chapter to come hopefully soon. I LOVE YOUUUU!**

**-S.N.O.**


	7. How The Hell Did We Get Here?

**A/N**

**Hello there, my lovely and faithful readers!! I'm soooo completely, utterly sorry that it's been like forever since I've updated! I've just been extremely busy lately. And to be honest, I really haven't had many ideas for this chapter popping up inside my head much. But I feel like I NEED to update right now, so forgive me if this chapter is a little confusing or not up to standards. I still love you all! Enjoy chapter 7! (oh yeah, and the title was all me this time!... with a little help from my friends, Paramore)**

CHAPTER 7: How the hell did we get here?

I sat slumped in my chair at the dinner table, playing with my spaghetti absentmindedly. I wasn't really paying attention to the conversation going on around me and I was vaguely aware of Emmett telling of something that happened at school today. Apparently, it was pretty funny because I could hear muffled sounds of my family's laughter over my mental replaying of all that happened today with Edward.

He had seemed so genuinely hurt that I wouldn't believe him about not destroying my project in eighth grade. But if he hadn't done it, who had? I mean, we did have sort of a little tiff about the fact that we were both creating the same product. As far as I knew, nobody else knew that we had made the same thing besides my family, and probably his.

Who else would've wanted to sabotage my chance at winning the science fair but the only person in school who had a GPA higher than mine?

"Bells!"

I snapped my head up and glanced at all three of my family members who were looking at me with raised eyebrows.

"Bella?" I turned my head to my right where my mother Renee sat, and realized that it was her voice that had pulled me out of my mental questioning.

"Yeah?"

"Sweetie, you've hardly touched your dinner, which Esperanza made especially for you tonight."

I glanced down at my cold dinner.

"I'm just not that hungry is all," I mumbled. My mother's eyebrows came together in confusion.

"You're always hungry when we have spaghetti and meatballs…" she said. I heard Emmett snicker softly but ignored it.

"Well not tonight, Mom." We all four sat in silence for a few moments before Renee turned back to face me.

"Bella, is something wrong?" she asked me cautiously. I looked back to her with my eyebrows raised.

"No. Why?"

"Well, you're not eating and you've got this distant and frustrated look on your face like you're trying to figure something out…"

I sighed and turned back to my dinner, picking up my fork. I twirled around a large portion of spaghetti and shoved the fork-full into my mouth, getting the delicious tomato sauce all over my face. There was the reason why I was always so hungry when we had this meal.

"See? I'm eating," I told Renee through my mouth full of food. Emmett started booming out laughter, which echoed off the walls of our kitchen. Renee sighed again.

"Bella…"

"Mom, I'm fine," I assured her, wiping the sauce from my face. I set my now dirtied napkin on the table and started to rise from my seat.

"But, Bell—"

"May I be excused? Great."

I didn't bother waiting for her answer, so I just pulled away from the table and made my way back upstairs. Ugh, why couldn't she just leave me alone when I told her I was okay? Whether I really was or not, wasn't she just able to take the hint that I didn't want to talk about whatever it was that was bugging me? Of course not. She was my mother and mothers pry. It's what they do.

I sauntered over to my nightstand and pulled my iPod off the counter. I stuck the earphones in and blasted my new favorite song by my second favorite band Paramore, 'Decode'. I lay back on my bed and listened to the lyrics. It was something I did whenever I was stressed out. Something about just listening to a song's instruments and words seemed to soothe me.

_How did we get here?  
I used to know you so well  
How did we get here?  
Well, I think I know_

It was kind of ironic now, how the song's lyrics seemed to apply themselves perfectly to my situation with Edward. I couldn't quite figure him out. We used to know each other so well, and then after that one incident it's like we both became two completely different people. How the hell _did_ we get here? I no longer knew anything about his life, other than the things Alice finds she can't go on in life unless she tells me.

Alice. Sometimes I feel so badly about what Edward's and my situation must do to her. Seeing her best friend and her brother dislike each other so strongly… It must be heartbreaking. I don't know what I would do if Emmett and Jasper hated each other the way Edward and I do. It would tear me apart inside, that's for sure. Make a nice big hole in my chest that would never be able to be repaired…

I wondered if that's how Alice must feel. If she's got this huge part of her missing, eating away at her life.

I shuddered at the thought. She's got this mega dilemma and all I ever do is make it worse by telling her to her face how much I loathe her jackass of a brother? How could I ever do to my friend what I have been for so long? I mentally made a note to self: Never complain about Edward, talk about his annoyances, or anything along those lines in front of Alice. I would _not_ keep hurting my friend.

As the song came to a close, I heard a slight tap at my door. I hit the pause button on my iPod. Okay, so the tap I heard was more like a pounding. I guess my music was on a bit too loudly.

"BELLA!" I heard Charlie call through the door. Charlie? What did he want? If anyone, I would've thought Renee to be the one that would come up to check up on me.

"Yes?" I called back, not moving from my comfortable position on my bed.

"Can I come in?" he asked, a little softer now that he knew I had heard him.

"Sure, Dad, I guess."

My door opened slowly and Charlie peeked his head in before bringing his whole body into my room. He shut my door quietly and pulled my desk chair over to the side of my bed that I was sitting on.

"Bells, I think… well… Bella you… Gar," he stuttered over his words, burying his face in his hands.

"What is it, Dad?" I asked, sitting up and leaning against my headboard.

"Bella… I want you to know… I want you to know that…"

"Dad, spit it out," I said playfully.

He picked his head up and smiled softly at me.

"Bella, I want you to know that I love you very much." I scrunched my brows together and looked at him, confused. What was he getting at?

"I love you too…"

Laughing, he responded: "That's not really what I wanted to say. I love you very much, Bells, but sometimes… sometimes I worry about you."

"Worry about me? Why?"

"Well… I mean, it's not like your relationship with Edward, or lack thereof, is really a secret, hon."

So that's what he was getting at.

"Dad, I—"

"Let me finish. I worry about you because, sweetie you and Edward used to be such good friends. I don't understand why you two hate each other so much."

"Dad, you _know_ why I dislike him. You _know_ what happened." I chose my words very carefully. It's not necessarily that I _hated_ Edward, it's just that... I don't know. Just that I couldn't stand to be around him after what he did to me.

"Yes, Bella, I know what happened. I know that someone, somehow, ruined your laser that you worked very hard on for the eighth grade science fair. And I also know that Edward Cullen was _not_ that someone."

I stared at him with my mouth open and my eyes wide in shock. Is he really defending Edward?

"Are you really defending him right now?" I asked him, my breathing becoming heavy with anger. _How dare he_? I thought._ How dare he defend the person that ruined my life?!_

"Bells, just calm down, alright? Hear me out," he said, holding his hands up in defense.

"Why?" I spat.

"Because I'm your father and I told you to," he stated sternly, dropping his hands and locking his authoritative gaze on mine. We sat like that for a few moments and then his eyes began to soften.

"Listen to me, Bella. Edward was your best friend, other than Alice, of course. He cared about you almost as much as your mother and I do, maybe more. You two were just so close and he never hurt you before. Why and how could you think that he would do something like that, something that he knew would hurt his best friend in the entire world? Huh?"

"I hardly think he cared about me that much, Dad."

"Oh, but he did, Bella. Just… just think about what I said. Okay?" I looked at him for a few seconds before sighing and telling him that I would.

"Promise?" he asked skeptically. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, I promise." He stood up from the chair, placed it back at my desk, and kissed my forehead before heading out my door.

"Oh, and Bell?" he asked as he was leaving.

"Yes, Dad?" I sighed, getting slightly annoyed.

"Even a blind man can see what's right in front of his nose," he said, tapping his own sniffer with his index finger before finally shutting my door and leaving me alone.

'Even a blind man can see what's right in front of his nose'? _Wow, Dad, that's quite some wisdom you've got there,_ I thought sourly. Of course I knew what he meant by that statement: that Edward really didn't do it and that I was being stupid to not have already realized that. But I didn't care what my dad said. I knew what had been done and that Edward Cullen had done it. He was the one that ruined my dream.

So why was Charlie so committed to defending him?

**A/N**

**Yeah, I know it was really short, but hey. I warned you. Well, length of the chapter aside, did we like it? Yes, no, maybe so? I know that nobody has used that phrase since like, kindergarten, but my friend said that to me the other day when he asked me if our poster was good enough. I laughed at him. Funny stuff, yeah?**

**So anyway, you know you want to click that little button down there and tell me what you thought. Don't you? DON'T YOU?!**

**Again, no poem. I know you're disappointed. Oh well. My brain's on the fritz right now.**

**Keep checking back for updates like I know you do EVERY DAY (she said sarcastically) and remember to REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!!**

**-SoNotObsessed (Jessica)**

**p.s.-- who else loved how i put in 'Decode'?? Huh, huh, huh??**


	8. Author's Note!

I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY!

I'm SOOOOOO sorry I haven't updated in like 302983049283049 years. I've been ultra-mega busy with school and softball workouts. And to be honest, I've been trying to come up with ideas for the rest of the story lines for all the stories that I currently have in progress. It's a hard task, writing like 4 at once…

I'm also sorry for maybe getting your hopes up when you saw that each story had a new chapter… that's pretty cruel of me. I PROMISE I will update as soon as possibly possible.

You may be asking why I'm not just updating right now. The answer is simple: I've really only got about five minutes, ten at most, until I have to leave to go to a choir concert at a local church (yes, I am a choir nerd). So I'm trying to do this as fast as possible.

Again, I'm SORRY! A million billion gajillion times I'm sorry! Keep checking back for updates though. It won't be long before I've got at least one new post up… I hope…

All my love and all my thanks for sticking with me,

-S.N.O (Jessica)


	9. Thunder Cats Are A Go!

**A/N**

**Hello my loves! Yes, I am back again with an all new update! Go ahead, take a minute to get your excitement in check. I know this is all very overwhelming. Haha!**

**Anyhoo, I know it's been a while. Like I mentioned before, my brain's been on the fritz. I've been busy, not to mention having trouble coming up with the plot line for this chapter. I'm actually still a little fuzzy on it… So bear with me. I'll try to keep you as entertained as possible. = )**

**Alright so in honor of my 'homecoming' so-to-say, I decided to give you guys a little treat. I mean, who doesn't want a closer look into the mind of Edward Anthony Masen Cullen?!**

**-S.N.O.**

**(note: this takes off right after Edward leaves Bella's in chapter 6)**

CHAPTER EIGHT: Thunder Cats Are A Go!

How could that have just happened? I had found Bella sitting on her bed, reading my essay for student council! I would have never dreamed of that happening, no matter how much Bella and I don't get along. Maybe she really wasn't reading it… maybe I was wrong…

But, no, I couldn't be wrong. The paper was there with her school things. Obviously she had seen it. It was set off to the side with all of her finished work, just like she always did, ever since we were kids.

Some part of me, in the very back of my mind, was telling me that she was being honest. It was basically screaming: "Get back there! Apologize! She didn't do anything! Go back, Edward, before it's ruined for good!" It was suddenly in the very front of my mind, unable to be ignored. It seemed to be overtaking every thought I had. _Bella's innocent, Bella's innocent!_

A thousand different emotions were going through my body as I sped back down the long drive to my house. Anger, frustration, hurt, sadness, more anger, and then as I found myself parked in my garage, determination. Overwhelming determination.

There was no way I was going to let that event that just happened between Bella and I become the final one to take place. Even if she _had_ read my essay, I didn't care. She could read it a thousand times over and I wouldn't care. But I _would_ keep my promise to Esme, my promise to myself. I _would_ work things out with her.

I was greeted at the garage door with a very satisfied-looking Alice, her expression probably mirroring mine. I don't know what it was about my sister, but something in her _knew_ things. I don't know how, but somehow… she just knew.

I stopped in front of her, a small smirk playing at the corners of both or our mouths at the same time. You've gotta love the freaky twin thing; note the heavy sarcasm.

"I need help," I stated simply. She rolled her eyes.

"Well, that's the understatement of the year," she muttered, turning around back into the house. She walked towards the staircase, slightly turning her head over her shoulder as she did so, confidence in every stride.

"If you really want to make things better with Bella, you're going to have to do three things," she told me as she entered my room. She sat me in my desk chair and stood in front of me, in full-on Alice mode. She started counting on her fingertips.

"One: You're going to have to drop all the snooty behavior. Ah, ah, ah, listen." She held up a finger to quiet me when I opened my mouth to speak. I sighed and leaned back in my chair, but still listening intently.

"I mean it Edward; no more mean comments or muttering things under your breath. You must. Be. _Nice_."

Well, obviously she didn't know quite as much as everyone thought she did. To be nice was my plan when I went over there in the first place. The promise, remember?

"Secondly, you've got to apologize. I don't care how, I don't care where. All I know is that it has to be sincere, and soon. We've got no time for dilly-dallying. You have to hand in your papers tomorrow, and if I know Bella, she's probably second-guessing herself right now after what just happened. I'd suggest going over there tonight, but it seems Bella's got some thinking to do. So probably go over before school tomorrow. Her alarm goes off at six, and she's usually out of the shower by 6:25 or so. If you get there at about 6:40, she should be dressed and ready to go. Damn girl doesn't know how to spend time properly primping…" She muttered that last part as an afterthought, and I couldn't help laughing at Alice's passion for fashion.

"Thirdly, if Bella's ever going to believe you're innocent, you're going to have to get proof. That's how Bella is, and how she's always been: won't accept anything unless there's cold-hard, concrete evidence."

And didn't I know it. I probably knew it better than Alice did, given my present situation, but I wouldn't dare tell Alice that. One learned quickly that no matter what, Alice is _always_ right. Always.

"Trust me," she continued, "I've been trying to convince her you had nothing to do with that God-forsaken incident since the day it happened. And she's denied it every single time— denied me! ME of all people, she chose to ignore. Ugh, anyway, you're going to have to either find out who really did it, or prove it wasn't you. Or both. Both is good, too."

I was mentally noting everything she said in my head. I would take Alice's advice into deep, deep effect, starting with the apology. I figured if there was even a chance of letting her hear my evidence, the evidence I was currently missing, then she had to at least be willing to listen. It's a bit difficult for someone who hates you to hear something you have to say…

"Thanks, Alice. I really needed this," I told her, standing from my chair.

"I know that better than you do, dear brother," she said sweetly, patting me on the shoulder.

"Uh-huh. Now get out. I've got a serious apology to organize…"

OXXOXOXOXOXXOXOXOXXOXOXO

After about two hours, I thought I finally had a good apology for Bella: that I didn't have an apology. I would just go up to her and say whatever came into my head at that moment in time. I pretty much knew what I wanted to say already, but it's not like I was planning a speech or anything. Just going to give a sincere, heart-felt apology. Alice would be proud.

"Knock, knock," I heard at my door. Alice let herself in.

"How's the apology going?" she asked, coming in to sit on my bed.

"All done," I stated proudly, sitting next to her.

"Well… can I hear it or what?!" she squeaked.

"Well, it's not exactly written out or anything. I'm just going to be acting on impulse. You know, just say what I feel and all that."

Her gaze turned confused, then happy, then annoyed. Annoyed?

"You mean to tell me," she began slowly, "that I've been pacing around outside your door for _two hours_ just waiting for you to tell me that you're just going to _say what you feel_?! That could have been a very valuable two hours to figure out how we're going to get her to believe us, Edward!"

I flinched away from her in surprise, almost tumbling backwards off my bed. So maybe she wouldn't be so proud. But I was still sticking with my plan.

"I don't care what you say, Alice. That's my plan and I'm sticking to it," I told her strongly, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Well, DUH, you should stick with it! It's a good plan!" she said, rolling her eyes in exasperation. "I'm just pissed that it took you two hours to come up with something that doesn't need coming up with!"

"Oh… so… you think I should do it?"

"Yes. Keep up with me, bro: Good plan, now need evidence." I felt like she was talking to a five-year-old.

"I comprehend, _sis_, I was just making sure."

"Uh-huh okay. Sure you were," she said, playfully nudging me.

"Okay, so now that that's cleared up…" she started, getting off of my bed.

"I need you to leave again so I can figure out how to get my evidence and clear my name," I told her, gesturing towards the door. She shook her head at me.

"Uh uh. Leave the evidence to me. I've already got some kind of plan forming in my head. All you need to do is be there. Let's see… we'll need just about everyone in on it: Me and you, obviously, Jasper, Emmett and Rose, too, probably; maybe even the parents…" she was muttering too low and too quickly that I could hardly hear her as she paced around my room in thought.

"…somehow to get into the school. We can talk to other contestants or other people that were there that night. Hmm… Edward," she stopped suddenly.

"Call Jasper. We need to get him over here so he knows what to do."

"But, Alice, I don't even know what to do," I protested.

"Ugh! I know! I need him here, though, so I don't have to explain this twice! I swear, sometimes Edward—"

"Okay! Okay, I'll call Jasper."

I went over to my desk were my cell phone was and hit the speed dial. He answered on the second ring.

"_Yeah_?"

"You need to come over," I told him.

"_What? What are you talking about?_"

"You. Need. To. Come. Over. Now."

"_Why? What's going on?_"

"Alice is devising some sort of plan to get Bella to believe me about eighth grade," I said, turning back over my shoulder to see Alice still pacing and muttering to herself.

"Finally! _I was starting to think she never would! I expected her to start planning something the second Bella blamed you!_"

"Yeah, yeah, well now she's finally in full plan mode. To tell you the truth, it's a little scary. I tell ya, man, I don't know how you put up with her. And I'm her brother, for crying out loud."

"_Ha ha, years of practice, man. Lots and lots of practice._"

"Alright, so we'll see you in a few minutes."

"_Ye— wait, no! No, I can't come over!_"

"What do you mean you can't come over?!"

"What do you mean he can't come over?! He needs to be here!" Alice shouted at me. I had to cover the phone so her squeal wouldn't be heard on the other side.

"Jasper Whitlock Hale, if you don't get your butt over here in five minutes…!" she shouted in my direction.

"Jasper, please, for the love of all things holy…" I begged him through the phone.

"_Ed, man, I can't!_"

"Why?"

"_I'm supposed to be sick, remember?_"

"Oh, right…"

I looked back over my shoulder. Alice still thought Jasper was home sick.

"Oh, great! See ya in a few, bye!" I said quickly, hanging up the phone. I sent him a quick text so Alice wouldn't hear.

_Say ur all bttr now and u'll be bck school 2mrow._

About a minute later, my phone buzzed in my pocket.

_Alright, alright, see u in a few._

"So, he's coming right? I don't have to hurt anyone?" Alice asked, coming over to me.

"Yeah, he's coming. You don't need to tear anyone's throat out."

"Yet…" she said evilly. I did not like the sound of that. She smirked and stalked out of my room.

Five minutes later, just in time, Jasper made his way to the house. Alice immediately dragged him upstairs to my room. She sat me back on my bed, and Jasper in my desk chair.

"Okay. Listen up. Here's what's going down. Everyone knows Bella and Edward haven't exactly seen eye-to-eye these past couple years. Now, of all times, Eddie-kins here has decided he's ready to fully commit to getting Bella to believe him. It's going to take some work, but if we all play our parts right, they'll be best friends again in no time."

And so began the telling and forming of Alice's master plan.

"Jas, tomorrow Edward's going to go over Bella's and apologize to her before school."

"What does he need to apologize for?"

"For being a jerk. Now honey, I love you and all, but no more interrupting, okay sweetie?" she said sweetly before getting back into her launch.

"If I'm correct, and I usually am, Bella won't be willing to listen. At all. But Edward, you just need to be patient, take a couple deep breaths, and just say it anyway. She'll either not respond at all, or say something like 'um, thanks?' and then close the door on your face. Either way, she'll be contemplating it all day. That's good. It means she'll be on the track to forgiveness. I know there's really nothing to forgive, except the jerky-ness factor, but still.

"Then we'll need to start working our way back up to being friends, all four of us. Instead of Edward and Bella making rude comments to each other, just ignoring each other at the least. Maybe get in a few nice things here and here. And—"

"Wait, hold on," I said stopping her in her thoughts.

"I said no interrupting," she said sternly.

"I know. But didn't you just tell me earlier that we don't have time for all that? That I need to get Bella to believe me as soon as possible?"

"Hmm… you're right… Well, then forget what I just said about working our way back up. We're just going to have to skip to the proof.

"Now, we're going to have to get some kind of evidence that Edward's telling the truth. Bella won't settle for anything less."

"What kind of 'proof' can we get? I mean, it's been over three years since it even happened…" Jasper piped in.

"Optimism, Jazzy-poo. And a bit of bribery, maybe a dash of dazzling here or there…" She had a wicked grin starting to spread across her face. I decided to cut back in and get back to the plan before she thought of something really bad.

"Um, Al…"

Her head snapped back to me, the smile falling.

"The plan?"

"Oh! Right, okay, anyways: Evidence. Now what kind of thing can we use? Let's see, we can talk to other contestants, people who may have had it out for Bella, or you, Edward. Umm, it's a bit hard to get finger prints with nothing to use. I mean, the laser was thrown out that night, and it'd take too long anyway… Oh!" The sudden outburst caused me to jump about a mile in the air. I looked over and saw Jasper with wide eyes, leaning as far back as my desk chair would allow.

"Alice, what the—" I started.

"Security tapes!" she shouted, a smile on her face.

"What?"

"Security tapes! There are cameras all over the middle school, there must have been something from that night caught on tape, especially with all those people there…"

Jasper and I just stared at her.

Security tapes? Three years later? I mean, really… it's not like anything really happened anyway.

"Come on, Al, there's no way they still have tapes from that night…" Jasper started.

"Oh, but they do. It's against the law to throw out security tapes. Police reasons, you know," she said, waving her hand in dismissal. "Until an officer or federal worker tells a security system they no longer need their tapes or records, they have to keep them. It's either all stored away in some closet or they've got it all on one disk or something like that."

Alice seemed so proud of herself for knowing that. She looked like she just found out there was a fifty-percent off everything sale at Chanel or something.

"Alice, even if it was possible to _get_ those tapes, if they even still exist, how do you propose we do so?" Jasper asked.

"Hold on," she said, holding up a finger. She dashed out my door and came back not twenty seconds later holding an old white board that we had when we were kids. We used it to learn how to spell and everything like that.

She set the easel down so Jas and I could both see it then took a marker in her hand. She drew a basic outline of the middle school of our past. It looked surprisingly accurate… I wondered how Alice knew where everything in the school was. Then again, it was Alice.

"Okay, so here's the security room," she said, pointing to a small room on the right side that she had drawn. "I know, leave it to the safest town in the country to have security cameras and such in the middle school." She rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, the cameras that we would need are located here, at both doors to the auditorium; here, here, and here, behind and above the stage; in this hallway leading to the auditorium, along with the one on the other side. Now for both of those, there are two cameras facing either way, to get a better view. And then there's one in the main hallway. That's it. I doubt we'll need to use the rest of the school."

"Alice, how…" Jasper started. Obviously, he was thinking the same thing I was: how and why did Alice know where all these cameras were? Did she have to do this before?

"For my government class last year, we took a 'field trip' to the middle school. That's how I learned about the thing about keeping all the tapes on record. And besides, I figured that when the day came that Edward wanted to repair his relationship with Bella, we'd need to know where everything was located, just in case it needed to come to that," she said, shrugging.

"Okay, so when we were on the tour, we met the resource officer, Officer Hanes. He's been there for over twenty years, so I doubt they've replaced him. Nice guy. Very serious about his job. I made sure to get as much info out of him and be as friendly as possible when we got to ask questions. He told me that if I ever needed anything, that he'd be sure to do what he could.

"But you know what? I don't want to ask for anything. I want to do this the old fashioned way…" She was getting that sly look in her eye again.

"Oh no, Alice, what are you—"

"We are going to sneak into Forks Middle School and get those tapes."

I think it was a good three minutes before any of us spoke again.

Sneak in?! Was she crazy? Apparently. My twin sister, good old Alice Cullen, wanted to break into our old middle school, just to get tapes to prove to Bella that I wasn't the one to break her eighth grade science project? When she could just ask the security officer for them?! REALLY?!

"Alice, no way. No, no, absolutely no," I told her, waving my arms in front of me.

"What? Edward, come on…"

"No! There is no way I'm sneaking into the middle school. You want the tapes, you ask Officer what's-his-face for them."

"Hanes. Officer Hanes," she corrected.

"Whatever. No way am I taking part in this… this… abomination, this monstrosity!"

"I'm in."

I whipped my head towards Jasper. Did he really just say that?

"_What_?" I half-shouted.

"Oh come on, Edward. We could all use a little adventure in our lives. You know, feel the adrenaline of getting caught, sneaking around like in those spy movies. You know you want to. And besides, if it well help clear your name with Bella…" he hinted.

I just stared at him for a moment, my eyes flickering to Alice every now and then. She had her hands clasped together, holding them under her chin, eyes wide with longing. Did they really expect me to do this? Did they really want me to risk everything I've worked for, my entire reputation, just to get a few tapes that could possibly or could possibly not have the information I needed?

"I don't know, guys…"

"Oh please, Edward? Please, please, please, please, please?" Alice begged, stepping closer to me.

After a minute I answered her. I threw my hands up in defeat and sighed.

"What the hell."

I had to cover my ears from the screech that was Alice's excitement. I started laughing along with Jasper. Oh God, what did I just get myself into? _Oh well, anything to save my friendship with Bella; anything to get her to believe me,_ I thought.

"Ah! This is going to be so much fun! We can get walky-talkies, and wear all black, and do cool spy moves! And we can have codenames! Ooh, ooh! I know this website we can go to for code names!" She ran over to my desk and sat on Jasper's lap, opening up my laptop and going to the internet.

"Alice what are you doing?" I asked her.

"Getting us code names on this website. It's called the Code Name Generator. Great, huh?"

I walked over to my desk and looked at the website. It read: 'WONDER WHAT YOUR CODE NAME WOULD BE IF YOU WERE UNDERCOVER? PLAY THIS GAME AND FIND OUT!' What a load of bologna.

Alice clicked the start button to play the game.

"Okay, who should we do first? Hmm, how about Edward, since this plan is really for him?"

"Alice, do we really need code names?" I asked incredulously. She looked over her shoulder and shot me daggers. I guess that answered my question. Jasper turned around and smiled at me, a look that said 'just let her have her fun'. So I did.

"Okay, Alice, what's my code name?" I sighed.

"You are no longer Edward Anthony Cullen. You are now…Hawkeye."

"Hawkeye?"

"Yep. Hawkeye. And no, I'm not going to generate another one for you. The first one you get, you keep. No arguments."

I wasn't going to argue. I was expecting something girly and fluffy to come up, something like 'Pink Squirrel'. Hawkeye was pretty good, actually. Hawks were masculine, right? And didn't that kind of mean that I was perceptive? You know, like, 'eye like a hawk'?

"No, Al, I like it. Do Jasper's next."

"'Kay. Jas, you're no longer Jasper Whitlock Hale. You are…" she burst out laughing and closed my laptop.

"What? What am I?" he demanded, going to lift it up. "Alice, what's my name?!"

"Umm…" she couldn't stop laughing. Now I wanted to know what it was.

When Jasper was finally able to pry open my laptop, he looked at the screen for about three seconds, then gasped.

"No. No way. That is NOT going to be my code name! Nope. I refuse. Do it over."

"Ah, ah, ah, Jas, no can do. No arguments, remember?"

"But, Ali, come on. That's a terrible code name!"

"What? What is it?" I asked, stepping closer.

"It doesn't matter. I'm changing it."

"You can change it all you want Jasper, but I'm just going to still call you—"

"Dusty Horse?!" I burst out laughing when I read the screen. That was probably one of the lamest, most embarrassing code names I've ever heard. There was no way I was going to change it. Jasper punched my arm, trying to get me to stop laughing.

"Ed, man, come on, she's your sister, make her stop!"

"Jas, man, that's never stopped her before. Just let her have her fun!" I couldn't stop laughing.

"Aw, Jazzy, it's really not that bad," Alice interceded between giggles. "I mean, if you really want a new name, you can have one."

"What?!" I shouted. "No, no, no, no arguments! The first one you get is the one you keep!"

"Really? I can get a new name?" He sounded elated by that fact.

"Sure," Alice shrugged. "But just know that if you do, I'm not going to kiss you for a month."

Oh, she was evil. I started cracking up again. Jasper had a look of defeat on his face.

"Fine. Dusty Horse it is."

"Yay!" Alice said, clapping her hands excitedly. "Okay, my turn. I'm not Mary Alice Cullen anymore. I am… Ooh, I like this one!" she exclaimed.

"What, what did you get?" Jasper asked, trying to peer over her shoulder.

"Now, why couldn't I get something like that?!" he yelled.

"What am I calling you, Alice?" I asked.

"Ah, ah. I'm not Alice. I'm Cavalier!" she announced.

"Hey, that is pretty nice," I commented.

"Ali-poo, do you perhaps want to—"

"Nope. I'm not trading code names with you Jazzy. I like Cavalier and I'm sticking to it."

"Fine," he grumbled.

"Ah! This is going to be so much fun! I can't wait to have you and Bella friends again, Edward! Then we can all laugh and have fun with each other like we used to! Oh boy, I can't wait for this! Come on, Jazzy, let's go get some food. I'm starving after all this planning!" She grabbed his hand and jumped off of his lap, pulling him to his feet. They were just about at the door when Alice stopped dead in her track, Jasper almost running into her, and turned back around to me.

"Wait!" She skipped back to me, towing Jasper, and held her free hand out in front of her. We each just stared at it for a second before she rolled her eyes at us.

"Well, put your hands in!"

Oh, so that's what she wanted us to do. We both put our hands on top of hers. This was so cheesy.

"Okay, on three, we break. One, two, three…"

"Break!" we all yelled in unison.

"Yay! Operation Get Bella's Trust is a go!"

I seriously hoped this plan worked. If it didn't, my friendship with Bella might really be ruined for good… But I had to admit it: I was pretty stoked to get to work.

Hawkeye was actually starting to have confidence in his sister…

**A/N**

**YAY! So there you have it, my first chapter of the new year! Almost 5,000 words! Woo! That's almost 10 pages! I have to say, I had a lot of fun writing that one. It started out rocky because I had absolutely NO IDEA where to go with it, but after I got back into the groove, it fell into place. It was so much fun for me to write out the scheming. And the whole code name thing… there's actually a website that you can go on to generate them. I did the whole 'the first one that comes up is the one you have'. Hawkeye, Dusty, and Cavalier were totally by chance and they all worked out pretty well, don't you think? (I just added the 'horse' part to Dusty to make it sound funnier.)**

**_- - -The web site is called ChannelOne . com, if anyone is interested! You can also go to other generators. I'd LOVE to hear what your code names are!!! On ChannelOne mine was FoxCraft, and on Codenamegenerator . com it was Purple Sparrow. I actually kind of like that one. . . maybe I'll change that to my pen name. . .hm there's a thought! lol- - - -_**

**Anyway, how was everyone's Christmas / Hanukkah / Kwanza / whatever you celebrate? What about New Years? Can you guys believe it's already 2009?! I can't.**

**Okay so enough of this; get to reviewing! I need some feedback of my first chapter in forever.**

**Either way, I still love you guys! Hopefully I'll have updates for my other stories soon. Hugs, Love, and Kisses!!**

**-S.N.O. (Jessica)**


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